The Painted Lady
by rephiamluvers123
Summary: Modern AU, still benders though. Katara is a successful water bender who own her own dojo as well as teaches at a highschool in her village. There's a new guy in her small little town. Him and his uncle open up a tea shop in the icy village. Maybe the tea won't only melt the snow…
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone!! I know I haven't updated in a long time, but I want you all to know I'm going to be going through all of my chapters and editing them. There won't be a new chapter for a while, but I'm adding a lot of details. I will make a note at the top of the chapters that have been edited. So far I've done chapter 1 and 2

Chapter 1: Katara and Zuko

KPOV

Hi, my name is Katara, I'm a trained waterbender as well as having a master in bloodbending. I decided when I finished studying, I wanted to become a teacher and completed my credentials. I am now a full time teacher in my home-village's main high school as well owning a dojo for waterbenders from around the world to train or visit. I've even had students who weren't benders or a bender of a different element come to see how the fighting style is different.

My mother had died when I was younger, when my country was still very deep in war. My father only recently came back from fighting and negotiating peace after I had already entered college, so him and I aren't very close. However, I am very close to my Gran-gran, who is very close to her death bed.

I also have an older brother who decided to walk in our father's footsteps and join the army. It's been years since he's enlisted and now he's a major. He's even had some of his men train in my dojo.

I'm 27, and my brother is 30. We may seem young for the things we've accomplished, but it's tradition for us to figure out our futures at a very young age. Once you hit high school, you pretty much have your future set for you and besides your general classes, you take classes that lead you through the path you choose to take.

Let me explain some things. There are 4 nations in the world, Water, earth, fire, and air. Each nation is generally known for a specific trait.

The water consists of the North and the South. The North has kept more of its traditional ways than us Southerners. Although, they do have advanced technology, we have more young scholars and are much more equalitarian. The Earth Nation is known for its manual labor and strong army. Although every nation has an army, the earth nation's army is known to be the strongest in the world. The Air nation is known for their peace and neutrality. They kept their noses out of the war and let everyone else deal with it. Many resent them for the fact they didn't do anything about it. The fact that the Avatar, and airbender, took so long to interfere probably has a major factor for the dissatisfaction from many parts of the world. The Air nation consisted of many monks and is deeply rooted in their religion. The Fire Nation is also known for their army since they are the ones who started the war against the Water Nation. After the Fire Nation invaded many parts of the Earth Nation, the Avatar finally stepped in and the Earth Nation's army worked together with the Water Nation's. This combined effort threw the tyrant off the throne and they started a newfound democracy.

The Water and Air Nation's still don't have a full democracy, mostly because our ways still work well with how our government is set up.

After the war, there was much hostility between the nations, especially towards the Fire Nation.

I have studied abroad in each nation, and was happy I was able to learn so much from them, but being in the small village that I'm in, I don't get to interact with those from other nations too often.

Until he came of course.

ZPOV

I hate moving.

I have never, nor will I ever, like moving. There are too many boxes and so much junk that my uncle refused to throw away.

This time, we are heading to the Southern Water Nation, because my uncle was able to buy a shop and he wanted to start up a new tea franchise. He figured selling warm tea in a place that always has snow was a good idea. For once, I agree with him.

I'm Zuko. I'm a firebender and once I became of age, I was forced by my family to join the military where I realized that the war was all a load of crap. I, luckily, joined right when the war was at its end, so I wasn't there for very long. After that, I stayed with my uncle, working in his tea shop, and now we are moving due to certain circumstances with our family.

I honestly planed on taking over the tea shop and staying in our packed city, which I was perfectly comfortable with, I felt I didn't need to travel anymore. However, he now decided to up and move to the Water Nation, of all places! Sometimes, wait no, scratch that, most of the time, I just don't know what he's thinking. Some days I'm grateful, others not as much.

I'm 25 years old, and just recently became single. I had been dating a girl named Mai before being forced to join the military. When I came back, we had never really been the same. We stayed together for the image, but now that I was leaving, there was no reason to try and stay together. At least I got away from her, there's actually one upside to the move.

I do have a younger sister, but she decided she wanted to become a politician and is in the middle of going to school right now. She and I aren't exactly on speaking terms anyways.

In case you didn't pick it up earlier, I am originally from the Fire Nation. Both of my parents died in the war, as well as my cousin.

I didn't have many friends throughout life, and my romantic life didn't pan out well either, I've always had trouble getting close to people.

That is, until I met her.


	2. Chapter 2

Edited

Chapter 2: Sokka's Return

KPOV

I was in the middle of training a class when I looked over at the entrance to see my brother, Sokka.

I immediately stopped my movements, which threw the class off, and ran towards my brother. He was still wearing his warriors uniform, which meant he must have only just gotten home today. "Sokka!" I yelled and ran into his arms. He laughed and squeezed me and spun me around. The class simply stood there, not really sure what to do in this situation.

We stopped our embrace and I pulled him to the front of the trainees. "Everyone, this is my brother, Sokka."

"Hey, everyone, sorry to interrupt your class, just wanted to see my younger sister. What are you guys working on?"

"Water whips." Said one of the younger boys in the front.

"Really, now? I remember when Katara was younger, she had a lot of trouble with the water whip, it took her forever to master."

I punched his arm which he rubbed dramatically to make it seem like he was seriously injured. The students looked up in awe to see the easy going interaction with their master. "Ok, I'll let you guys get back to it. Katara, you want to go out tonight with everyone?"

"Of course! Now, leave so I can train!" He laughed and walked out of my dojo.

I finished up the training about an hour later and walked to my apartment. It wasn't very late out, but being so far south, and winter drawing nearer, our days were beginning to shorten, the sun was already setting.

I checked my phone to see a text from Kara, a friend I had met in college and we went out to eat or went drinking every once in a while. She asked me if I wanted to go out but I declined telling her my brother was back.

It was then that I messaged my three childhood friends, Nala, Esrick, and Kurik, to tell them Sokka was back and that we were all going to go out to eat tonight.

I was in my apartment when Nala messaged me back with a bunch of "!!!" and then suggested going to the Red Dragon that opened up last week.

There aren't many travelers who come through our tiny village although, we do get tourists every now and then, but we don't get many new people in terms of permanent stay. When we did get newcomers, everyone knew about it. There was an Uncle and a Nephew who were originally from the Fire Nation. Of course, they got a lot of bad rep because of it, but those who I knew personally who have gone to their new tea shop had expressed the great hospitality and how they were genuinely nice people. I never had the chance to go since my workload had been so heavy and I rarely like to eat out.

I texted the others asking if everyone was fine with going there and they were. Then, I called up Sokka.

"What's up Little Sister?"

"Don't call me that. If anything, call me Mother. God knows how many of your dirty socks I've washed." He laughed. "Hey, there's a new place in town called the Red Dragon, you mind if we go there?"

He paused before answering. "Aren't they Fire Nation?"

"You already know?"

"Well, it's not hard to hear about anything in this tiny ass village."

"That's so true."

"Yeah, I'm not really sure if…"

"It'll be fine Sokka, everyone I know who has gone really likes it there. The only reason people don't like it is because they're easy to throw the 'Everyone who's from the Fire Nation sucks' card."

He sighed, knowing I was right. "Fine, did you already call up the others?"

"Yah, Nala was super excited…."

I heard him groan, "OH, god, Katara, please, no…"

"You know I'm just messing with you. I can't help but tease you. But just so you know, you are past the age most men get married…"

"Please, don't remind me!" I laughed. "Ok, well, I'll meet you all there in 2 hours."

"Are you with Gran-gran?"

"Yah…I thought I'd visit her for a few hours. Hey, do you mind if I…"

"Don't worry, I have a spare bed made and ready for you. You can come stay with me after we eat."

"Thanks, you're my favorite sister."

"I'm your only sister."

"Exactly, be happy you have no competition."

I scoffed and then hung up the phone. He can be such a jerk sometimes.

I made his bed and started grading papers and when I checked the time I realized I was going to be late. I didn't own a car so it was going to take me 20 minutes to walk there. I never took a shower so I had dry sweat on me, my big square glasses and my hair up in a messy ponytail. I looked down at my leggings and baggy shirt. I was warm on my walk home due to the fact I had worked out, but it was dark out and it was going to be freezing. I grabbed a light sweater and decided to jog there. None of my friends would mind my sweat so, I grabbed my purse and running shoes and ran of the house.

I made it exactly on the meetting time and saw Sokka, Nala and Esrick already sitting at a table. Esrick looked up and laughed at my appearance.

"You forget about your brother?"

"Sorry, I'm trying to grade papers by the end of the weekend."

"Sister, you haven't even changed out of the clothes you wore to the dojo." I glared at him and he put his hands up in defense.

"Kurik late as always?"

"You're one to talk…" I punched Esricks arm and pushed him so I could sit next to him on the booth.

Right then someone came over with the drinks. "Oh, I see how it is. Order without me. I'm not even late!" They laughed and the man who gave the drinks chuckled as well.

The chuckle was deep and I looked up to see a handsome face that was also supporting quite a gruesome burn scar on the right side. "Would you like something to drink?"

He had dark hair that swung in front of his face and a small smile that fit his sharp features well. He had a tall build and a waiter's apron on. The apron seemed so out of place on his body, but fit well with the atmosphere he gave off. His eyes were golden which complemented his pale skin. Despite the cold, we have a lot of tanned and darker skinned people here, so he would be easy to spot out in a crowd.

"Yes, can I have the best tea on the menu."

He laughed and I gave him a cheeky smile. "Sure, I'll give you my uncles best. My name's Zuko by the way, and I'll be your server. You guys are waiting for one more, right?"

"Yep, the slow poke shouldn't be too long, but we can order without him."

"Well, when I come back with your drink, I'll take your orders, is that ok?"

"Sure, dude." Sokka said.

He walked away and I watched as he went into the back room where his uncle was, most likely. "Geez, Katara, stop staring."

I looked at Nala and she had this sly smirk on her face and I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

She giggled and said, "Maybe you should get his number…"

Sokka raised his arms, raised his voice and said, "Nope, Nope, nope! We are not having this conversation while I'm here. I refuse to talk about my little sisters love life."

Esrick laughed, "Dude, how many chicks has she had to break up with for you."

He blushed and mumbled something that sounded like, "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

I just laughed. "I'm not going to get his number, guys are such a distraction." Nala rolled her eyes.

"You're of marriage age! You need to get back on the horse!"

"I don't need a man to live my life."

"Wait, I thought you were going to marry me?!"

We looked up and saw Kurik with a bright smile on his face. Kurik is to me what Nala is to my brother. He had no chance with me. We still liked to joke about it, though. He pulled up a chair and at that moment, Zuko brought my hot tea. It smelled great and when I took a sip I realized it was Jasmine. I smiled in approval. "Ok, I commend your great choice in tea."

"I'm not related to a man who simply bleeds tea for no reason. Are you ready to order?"

"Yah, I'll have sea prune stew." Sokka said.

"Ummm… pickled seaweed please."

"Fried sea squid." Esrick said.

"I'll have Oolong tea, and then can you get back to me later? I just got here." Zuko nodded and then looked at me.

"Oh, I won't have anything, the tea is just fine." Sokka sighed heavily and the others rolled their eyes.

"La, Katara, this is why no one likes to go out with you." I just shrug and Zuko wrote everything down and walked away with a slight smile.

Nala giggled again. "He was totally checking you out."

"Nala, stop."

"So that's my competition?" Kurik stroked his short beard staring at Zuko's back. I sighed.

"La, guys, he's no ones competiton, he was not checking me out. Can you people stop trying to get me to date again?"

"Oh, c'mon Katara, you haven't gotten anything your way since Jet…"

The table went relatively silent after that. "Look, the reason I'm not dating isn't because of Jet, ok? Can we stop having this conversation? We got together to spend time with Sokka while he's back." Now, I was actually getting annoyed. Jet was a part of my life that pretty much everyone wanted to forget, especially me. The whole town wanted to forget about it!

"Ok, whatever. So, Sokka, how was the north pole?" Kurik asked, knowing that any further into the topic would only make everything worse.

"It was pretty great, I learned a lot over there, not only in fighting but in their culture. I also… met this girl."

Nala's smile faltered, but Kurik kept pushing. "Oh, really? Who is she, what's she like?"

"Her name is… Yue."

"WHAT?!" I yelled and almost dropped my cup. Everyone else in the restaurant looked over at me and gave me weird looks. I whisper yelled at him, "YUE?! Yue as in Yue, the princess of the Northern Water Nation?"

As I said before, The Fire Nation was the most democratic right now, although we do vote for most of our leaders, the north was ruled by an emperor. The north is more traditional, keeping the throne passed down through family. The south has more of a council, however there is a main chief, who acts as the most powerful overseer of the council.

Nala chocked on her tea when I mentioned Princess. Sokka sighed. "I knew you'd know."

"Well of course I know! I lived in the royal palace for a year!"

"Well, yah, I met Yue."

"There's no way her father knows about you."

"Well…"

Sokka shrugged. Esrick brought up his hand and said, "Way to tap a princess." Sokka and I just glared at him. Esrick looked down and brought his hand down with it.

"Sokka, I'm not kidding, stay away from Yue, her dad is super over protective and already has someone ready to marry her. It's been planned since the moon saved her as a child!"

"I'm sorry, can you please catch me up because I have no idea what is going on." Kurik said, Nala nodded her head in agreement.

Right before I was about to delve into the story of her childhood, Zuko came with our food. "Hope everything tastes good. My Uncle and I are still trying to get used to the… new ingredients here."

"It's fine, I'm sure google has the instructions right." They all laughed. Then Kurik had to ruin the mood. "Hey, have you ever heard of Princess Yue?"

Zuko's eyebrow furrowed. "You mean the Princess of the North?"

"Thank you! At least someone knows about the world." I said raising my arms.

"Katara, you know everything, just because he knows it, doesn't mean it's some widely known topic."

I looked at Zuko, "Do you know about her story?"

"You mean about how the moon spirit saved her?" I clapped my hand and then punched Esrick's arm.

"In your face! You people are just not knowledgeable. You should come to my class every once in a while."

They all just rolled their eyes.

"You're a teacher?" Zuko asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yah, sorry, I forgot you just moved here. I'm a teacher at the local highschool and I have a Dojo."

Zuko's eyes widened. "A Dojo? Really?"

Sokka smiled in some proud way. "That's right, my sister is the strongest waterbender in the world!"

"I am not."

"She actually is." Kurik whispered up to him. Zuko nodded his head in exaggeration.

"Really, do you think you should teach me some moves?"

I kind of just stared at him for a moment, not really understanding what he was saying. Nala coughed and that broke my awkward stare. "Oh, um, sure. I'm up at the Painted Lady Dojo everyday in the afternoon."

"Cool, maybe you can teach me to kick ass."

"Yeah, sure, it's a plan."

"Ok, I'll be back with your bill. Do you want me to split it or…?"

Before anyone could say anything, I cut them off and said, "I'm paying."

"Katara-"

"No, you all are broke, I'll pay."

Sokka wiped off a makeshift tear. "Best sister in the world, too."

Zuko laughed and said, "Ok, I'll be back with the bill."

When he walked away, all eyes were on me. I put up my hands. "Nope, we are talking about Sokka's affair with the Northern Princess."

"Katara!"

"No!" Nala said and looked down at her food and pouted.

"Ok, so, Sokka, what happened?"

"Well, we just went on a few dates, that's all. We kissed a few times, but she… dumped me right before I left."

"Ah, I'm sorry man."

"No, Katara is right, It wasn't meant to be, she's way to high on the social class for me."

"Honestly, I don't think anyone one from the South would be accepted by her father. Despite everything I said, I'm sorry Sokka."

"It's fine. Well, I'm going to be stationed at the Kiyoshi islands next."

Nala raised her eyebrows. "Really? Aren't they super strong though? Why are you going there?"

"Special training. Oh, speaking of special training, do you mind if I sit in on some lessons, Katara?"

"Of course, if you pay like everyone else does."

"You wouldn't do that to your broke brother, would you?"

"Of course, no special treatment." Sokka wiped another fake tear away and we all laughed.

Everyone ate and we caught up on life. When we finished it was really late and almost no one was left in the restaurant. Kurik and Nala left early because they had to work the next day and Esrick left not too much later than them. I saw Zuko come out of the back and he brought me the receipt which I gave him my credit card. He brought back the receipt I needed to sign and gave me my copy. When he handed me the small piece of paper, our hands brushed, and he just smiled at me before taking my cup and walking back to the back. I looked at the back of the receipt and saw a number written across of it.

I starred at it for a while and finally Sokka had to yell at me to snap me out of my daze.

"What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing." I shoved the receipt into my bag and ignored Sokka's stare. He looked at how I was dressed and clicked his tongue.

"You are going to freeze out there."

"I'll be fine; you just have to keep up."

"Hell, no, I'm not running."

As we walked back to my apartment, Sokka's luggage in hand, we talked more about his time away. "Besides Yue, anything else exciting happen?"

"Not really. Honestly, it's been really weird having to deal with the anticipation. The Fire Nation hasn't voted for President yet, so no one really knows how it's going to pan out. The higher ups are mostly afraid of one of the kids of the original Fire Lord. It seems she's gained a following while trying to get into politics."

"Strange, I never thought the Nation would allow it."

"Neither did we. After the White Lotus helped stage the uprising, we thought one of them would want to take leadership, but they've been dormant since the death of the Fire Lord."

I sneezed, the cold making my nose red. "Oh, yeah, I haven't heard anything about them. No one knew who the leaders were, right? It seemed like an organization run by ghosts."

Sokka just shrugged, ending the conversation. He couldn't tell me too much, we've both had to deal with the secrets of many parts of the world before. "How have you been?" He asked. "I know you tend to get stuck in your work and not go out. Gran Gran misses you."

I sighed. "I know, and I miss her too. I plan on visiting her soon. I'm trying not get over worked. But after leaving as an advisor, I just felt like I needed to fill in all of my time."

"Why don't you just join the military."

"No offense, I don't think they could handle me. You know I don't like it when people tell me what to do."

"Oh, please, you would be a high ranking officer the moment you signed up, the Royal family would make sure of it."

I paused a moment, taking in his words. "Do you ever get worried?"

"About what?" He questioned.

"About the coalition between the North and the South. We are so vastly different, yet we join our armies together like we are one large Nation. When the time comes, how will soldiers decide? I know that the higher ups are a mix of both the South and the North so there are no one-sided decision, but I don't know. I'm not saying we are bound to start fighting, but… well I'm just saying." Sokka didn't say anything return, so we walked the rest of the way in silence. I felt bad in a way for bringing it up, since I was obviously trying to avoid talk about myself, but it's something that has always been in the back of Sokka's mind, I just needed to remind him.

When we finally made it home, I was indeed very cold and without shedding anything off I fell asleep on my bed instantly, not caring that I was in dirty clothes or the fact that I still hadn't taken a shower. I didn't event take the time to think about the number written on the back of the receipt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Edited**

Chapter 3: A New Place

ZPOV

It was always so _cold_. Of course, my Uncle decided to move in right before winter was rolling in. It was weird opening my closet and seeing only winter clothes inside. No one really had cars here either. Everyone seemed to walk to where they needed to go. There were roads, but only large trucks for company purposes seemed to use them. The snow made it hard for bikes, too. The village seemed small enough that you didn't really need to use a car anyway. However, the air seemed so much cleaner here, unlike the polluted populated city in the heart of the Fire Nation.

The people looked at me funny, not only because of my scar, but because of the fact I didn't look like them. It kind of freaked me out.

My Uncle didn't mind the stares though, he probably thought he was a celebrity or something. I wonder about him sometimes…

We had been here for a month now, but only opened up the tea shop a week ago. At first, we didn't get very many customers, due to the fact the whole town already knew we were from the Fire Nation. It irritated me, my temper not being the best in the past didn't help, but my Uncle was undeterred. He went out and made friends somehow and within a few days, we started to gain customers. It was only my Uncle and I, so the service was generally slow, so in a way I was thankful for the lack of customers.

It was a normal night, we were already getting regulars, so I chatted with them, asking about the town gossip, mostly because my Uncle like hearing about it, one reason why he made the trips to the market rather than I.

We generally had older people come in, since our customers had come from some of the older community that my uncle was able to befriend. However, this one night, three people who must have been in the 20's came in and I showed them to a booth.

"Hey, you're from the Fire Nation, right?"

I flinched, noticing that one of them was wearing a military uniform. He wouldn't be the first guy to come in and yell at me for being from the Fire Nation.

"Sokka! Don't be so rude. What do you think Katara would say if she knew you said that?" said the girl.

"Yeah, I'm from the Fire Nation."

The guy, who I figured was Sokka, put his hand on my shoulder, "Look, I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to welcome you to the South. My name is Sokka. I think it would be nice if we were friends or something. You seem pretty young, how old are you?"

"I'm 25."

"Wow, you're younger than my sister. Well, if you get any beef from anyone, tell them that Sokka has your back and they'll back off."

I wasn't really sure if I should take that as a joke or not. The other two just laughed so I gave him a nervous smile. They sat down and I took their drink orders. "Oh, there are 2 more on there way."

I nodded and walked away with their orders. I went to the back to see my Uncle cooking on the grill. "I see we have some newcomers, what was that military boy saying to you?"

I scratched my hand as I pinned up the order in front of him. "I'm not really sure… He seemed pretty genuine, he said he wanted to be friends."

"Really now!? That's great Zuko! It's good for you to find some friends your age. What was his name?"

"I think it's Sokka…?"

My Uncle laughed. "From what I hear, that's a good person to be friends with."

I wonder where the hell he gets the time to talk to people about this kind of stuff.

It was few minutes after I gave them their drinks that I heard someone walk inside and loud bickering started. At first, I was afraid that it would intrude on the other customers, but when I walked out, I noticed the soft expression they had while looking at the group.

It was then that I noticed the girl who walked in. She was wearing workout clothes, which seemed way to thin for the weather. How was she not freezing? She seemed slightly out of breath, which I was guessing she jogged here.

She was breath taking. Although, she looked slightly disheveled, it was actually… sexy. She looked around my age, too.

When Uncle said meet new friends, I guess… women can be friends, too.

I knew immediately that I was attracted to her, but whether or not she would be willing to talk to me is a whole other question.

Ok, so I'm trying to be a good person, but I can't help but hear their conversation! They talk so loud. After I took her order, I may or may not have heard them talking about me. I also found out she was Sokka's sister.

I was surprised that she didn't order food, it made me curious about who she was and why she didn't like to eat out, according to her friends.

"I see you have your eye on the waterbender."

I almost dropped the food when my Uncle said that. "What are you talking about?"

"My window may be small, but I'm not blind, you've been looking at her since she got here."

"Uncle, please shut up."

"Why don't you give her your number?"

"Uncle, please shut up."

I did my best to play it cool when I would go to their table. It was purely on a whim that I asked about going to her dojo. When she hadn't replied right away, I became worried. Maybe I was crossing some boundary. I wasn't really accustomed to the culture here, and if it was in any way as traditional as the North, then I was sure to get some shit for trying to make a move.

When I gave her my number, I was sweating like crazy and hurried away before she could see it. I made sure she was gone before I left the kitchen to lock up the shop.

"Good job, Zuko!" My uncle patted my back and I swatted his hand away.

"Oh, shut up, Uncle." He just laughed and I scratched my head. "Did you know she owned her own Dojo?"

"Oh, so that was Katara? I hear she's the towns genius, in both strength and knowledge."

I scoffed. "Where the heck do you get this information?"

"That's the power of a small town." I rolled my eyes. We cleaned up and then left the shop, only having to walk up some stairs, since our apartment was attached. another thing I could hardly get used to was the icy walls. Much of the infrastructure was ice, how it never melted during the summer or when the heater was on, was beyond my comprehension. However, the convenience made our lives so much easier. Even though I knew I could probably fight someone well, I wouldn't want to risk my uncle or I on some long walks back to a home farther away. my uncle may have been a warrior in the past, but I believed those days have been long over.

The next day was our day off and I decided to go shopping while letting my Uncle sleep in.

"Oh! Isn't it the new Fire Nation kid?" said some old market man. I sighed, this is why I hated small towns. "Come to shop for your shop? I have some vegetables for a good price!" I examined the vegetables and gave him a questioning look. It was hard to get such good vegetable since the harvesting season was over. These must have all been shipped.

"Only two silver pieces for each vegetable." My eyes widened, that was actually not that bad. I bought a few vegetables, and as he was packing the bags, he began to gossip a little.

"You know, it's always so hard to get vegetables here, hardly any of us are good with foreigners, but Katara really helped with negotiating cheap trade."

"Do you mean the girl who owns the Dojo?"

"Oh, you've met her?"

"She went to my shop last night."

"Oh, really? That girl rarely goes out after what she went through. But man, she's really good at talking it up. She might as well be this town chief with how much she's done for us. It really is too bad she never continued with that career. Well, what do you expect, with her being a councilman's daughter and all." He handed me my bag but kept talking. "She's quite a beauty, too. If I were 20 years younger, I'd want to marry her!" He laughed. "Well, she's teaching my son, though. He really likes her as a teacher. It really is too bad what she's gone through…"

I couldn't help but listen to him. This girl was so intoxicating, the more you heard, the more you wanted to know. However, the man didn't add on after such a vague ending. "Well, come back any time if you need anything!"

I walked down the streets of the markets and bought some supplies for person reasons as well as some for the shop. I heard all kind of stories, about someone getting pregnant, about Katara, about the school, even about my own shop. These people were quick to open their mouths.

Sometimes, I really liked small towns.

When I got back home, Uncle was cooking some lunch. I put all of my groceries and everything away and then I felt my phone vibrating in my back pocket.

The screen had an unknown number on it, but I was compelled to answer it anyway.

"Hello?" I asked.

"… Is this Zuko?" my breath hitched as I realized who it was that was calling. I wasn't actually expecting her to call. Shit, I'm so nervous now, my brain isn't ready for this.

"Um, yeah, Zuko speaking." Did I really just say that. What the fuck is wrong with me, it's like I'm in high school again.

"Oh, it's Katara, um, sorry for calling so soon…"

"Oh, no its' fine."

"So this is really sudden…"

"Yeah?"

"The Red Dragon is closed today, right? Are you doing anything right now?"

"No, I'm totally free. Not doing anything, nope." Oh, Agni, I sound so desperate right now.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come by my Dojo. I know you said you wanted to come by. I don't have any more lessons for the rest of the day and I thought if you were free…"

Oh, right, I said I wanted to learn how to fight. Of course, I already knew how to fight, but this was a good excuse to make a friend. Even if she didn't want to date, or anything, I seriously need to get out of the house. "Oh, yeah, I'll be there in 20 minutes, is that ok?"

"Yah, I'll see you then."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"Umm, bye."

"Bye." I heard my phone beep meaning the call was over and I hit my head with my phone a few times. Agni, I'm so dumb.

I quickly finished putting the groceries away. Uncle.came out of his room, eyeing me suspiciously. I just scratched my head and once I was done, made my way to my room.

"Uncle, I'm going out today!" I yell while I start change into work out clothing.

"Really?! Great! Have fun! Don't come home if you don't have to!" I rolled my eyes.

"Bye Uncle!"

"Bye Zuko!"

I walked out of the house with a burly winter coat and workout clothes underneath. I googled where the dojo was and took a bus to the nearest stop. When I got off, I had to climb up a huge hill to make it to the dojo. It was so cold, but I was already sweating with the huge coat on me. I didn't even need my firebending to help heat my body.

As I made my way up the snowy hill, I couldn't help but glance down to see the small lights of the icy town. I haven't seen this kind of viee, and it made it all look a lot bigger. I hadn't exactly been out much, but I had a feeling there was a lot of this town I had yet to see and explore. Maybe the newfound friendship would help with that.

Above the door was _The Painted Lady,_ painpainted in perfect cursive. i wondered how it didnt chip in this freeze. The door was open and I walked inside to see Katara in different workout clothes than she wore the day before. She had he legs folded and was stretching, as well as writing something on a huge stack of papers. I knocked on the wall and she didn't even look at me. I made a noise with my throat and all she did was hold up her hand with one finger, telling me to wait. I stood their awkwardly in silence until she finally finished marking the paper and looked up. When she saw it was me, her eyes widened and she stood abruptly.

"Zuko! I'm so sorry! I was grading some papers, I thought you were one of my students…"

"It's ok, If you're busy, we can do this another time…"

She waved me off. "No, if we don't do it today, I doubt we will ever get the chance to do it again. Besides, if I go home, my brother is just going to want me to wash his dirty laundry, he does that every time he comes back." She rolled her eyes and I smiled. "Ok, you can hang up your jacket over there."

She was wearing a thin tank top and her strong arms were completely exposed.

"How are you not freezing?"

She shrugged. "You get used to it. Besides, aren't you a firebender? Normally you guys don't need heavy clothing, you just heat up you bodies on your own."

I froze. She noticed how tense I was and immediately started explaining herself. "Oh, Tui, I'm so sorry. That might be a touchy subject. I'm really good at… reading chi. I knew you were a firebender the moment we talked. Your Uncle is too, right? And a strong one at that."

Questions swirled my head. I had heard about people reading chi, my own uncle could do it, but he explained it took years of practice and strict training for him to have that ability. And although he was a master firebender, reading chi never came that easy to him. With old age he gained more wisdom, becoming more sensitive to those kinds of things. I had never met someone so young who could do it. I couldn't. And honestly, my only interaction seemed to be with incredibly old people. I didn't quite understand chi myself, but I had heard stories, both legend and personal accounts from my uncle. Although I had many things I wanted to ask, apparently only stupid things knew how to fly out of my mouth. "How old are you?"

I widened my eyes, realizing how rude that was, "No, I didn't mean-"

She just laughed, "No, it's fine. I'm 27."

"Wow, I had heard reading chi is extremely difficult, and needs a lot of training. Where did you learn it?"

It was something I was never able to obtain. It requires patience, something I lacked, and I was eager to see if maybe I could find a way to learn at such a young age, like she had. However her answer wasn't what I expected. "A little bit of everywhere. I learned chi... kind of on my own. For me..." she seemed to hesitate, not entirely sure if she wanted to give away her secret. Or maybe it was something she couldn't simply put into words. the way her blue eyes seemed to swim in skepticism at my question and uneasiness made me think of the latter. "It's tied in with my bending, I'm a master in bloodbending."

"Bloodbending?" Now I was the one to feel uneasy. I had learned that bloodbending was never an easy feat, almost as difficult as chi reading. All benders disliked it, since it was seen as something immoral, and even in medicine it was rarely used. Only waterbending doctors and highly trained masters were allowed to wield it without supervision of some kind. I had heard stories of waterbenders who had gone crazy due to bloodbending and it's power. Again, the fact someone so young had a master in it kind of... scared me. I didn't know how to react. she was the first woman I had heard of who doesn't seem absolutely insane.

An awkward air hung around us, she was obvious I was uncomfortable with the conversation. "I use it for healing." she tried to justify. "But my sense to feel blood has helped me with the chi reading."

"I thought waterbenders could only bloodbend under a full moon." It had moist definitely not been a full moon last night. With that she seemed to go rigid. I must have struck a nerve. It looked like she wasn't used to being questioned like this, most likely due to the fact that everyone probably respected her the most, at least that was the vibe I received from the townspeople. "But... you don't need a full moon, do you."

"It's actually not that uncommon." I knew it was a lie but I decided against pushing. She was obviously uncomfortable with the conversation and I also knew every step I made into it was making it harder for her to want to be friends with me. I tried my best to change the subject.

"So... Where have you been to train?" We were sitting now. Thoughts of training out of our minds as we both tried to grope for information. Well, she was much more controlled than I was.

"Everywhere. I've been to every nation at least once."

That surprised me. "Even air?" she was prepared for that one. once she realized I was probably going to ask skeptical invasive questions, her guard on her reactions was much tighter. She nodded. "Have you met the Avatar."

"Have you?" I tensed. Those who met the Avatar were either friends, or were part of the government that required to discuss with him. I was most definitely not his friend, and I didn't want to talk about that. I shook my head and she scoffed. I wasn't sure if she could tell I was lying, but I also noticed it had swayed the conversation on me. "Why did you move to the South?"

I shrugged. "We have a tea shop. Hot tea in a place made of ice and snow? Seemed like a good idea." She eyed me, and I felt my heart race a bit at her gaze. No matter what they held, those eyes were amazingly sexy. They contrasted with her dark skin, practically making her eyes glow. My breath was stuck in my throat. I cleared it before asking, "So you've traveled the world and yet, you decided to stay in this small town?"

"I guess you're from a city, aren't you?" I just nodded. She shrugged. "I grew up here, this is my home. Besides, my grandmother is here, I can't leave her all alone, what with my father never visiting and my brother always off with the military."

 _Daughter of a councilman._ The words echoed in my mind.

I just nodded. Deciding that any more conversation may set both of us on edge, I stood. "So, what do you think you can teach me." She gave me a 'look.' "What?" I asked, shrugging. "I mean, I'm pretty good at fighting, anyway." She rolled her eyes.

"I don't simply 'fight.'"

Suddenly, she came at me. Her movements were fluid and smooth. She was so quick, I had no way of being ready for it. I tried to bring my hand up to stop a blow to my arm, but then she kicked my legs out from under me. I was on the ground and she held out a hand to me. "It's not just fighting."

We spent two hours sparing, she taught me how stances and moves she learned from all over the world. She told me about how the war ended in the midst of her travels, making it difficult at first for people to accept her and train her. Thanks to the newfound peace, people were much more willing later on. I was fascinated with her vast knowledge. She laughed when I commented on it. "I just like learning." Was all that she said.

It's not that I don't know anything, but I felt a greater maturity from her, something that only comes from going through hardships and making mistakes to learn from. I myself have gone through such maturing obstacles.

"Well, it's starting to get dark. Did you take a bus here?" I nodded.

She stood there in thought for a moment, using a small towel to pat on her sweaty neck. I gulped as I tried not to stare too obviously. She was thinking about something, probably battling in her head about her next words. Finally, she must have resolved whatever argument in her own mind she was having. "If you want, you can come to my house and have some tea." She looked at her phone. "My brother said he was interested in being friends with you, and he should be there right now, so it's no trouble. The Red Dragon is only a 20 min walk from my apartment."

Holy shit she's asking me to go to her house.

Her brother is going to be there, but, holy shit she's asking me to go to her house.

Sometimes, I loved small towns.

She locked up the Dojo and we began to walk down the hill to her house. It was already dark, and I was starting to get nervous walking on the streets. She must have seen I was tense. "Hey, if you want, I can call a taxi to take you home or I could walk you. I understand what it feels like to be in unfamiliar territory."

I was not going to have some sexy woman walk me home, my pride would be broken into tiny little pieces. It was already cracked from getting my ass handed to me earlier. "No, I'm alright. Just not used to all this darkness."

She nodded in understanding. "Winters can be hard, we don't have a lot of lighting on the streets, and since we don't get s lot of sunlight, the streets can be eery. It was a lot worse during the war. Luckily we don't normally have a lot of clouds, so the moon tends to give us enough light." I looked up to notice the brightness of the moon. although it wasn't full, it was getting there. The bloodbending came to mind again, but I pushed it away. I had a lot of fun with Katara and I didn't want it to be ruined by my immediate stereotyping of bloodbenders. She was like no one I had ever encountered, and I envied the power she held within, and was slightly afraid that it could oneone day be unleashed on me, if she ever really knew who I was, what I'd done. The walk was silent after that. My mind was dating with things I wanted to ask. Not just about trainings, but about herself. What she liked, what she didn't like. If she only had one brother.

 _The daughter of a councilmen._

We walked up a few flights of stairs and then she opened up her large apartment.

"Sokka!"

"Katara! Did you do my laundry?!"

"See? I told you."

"Who are you- oh, Zuko. How's it going?"

I just nodded to him in respect. He was only in a towel, though. I looked away. I was raised conservatively in a way. It wasn't abnormal to see men without shirts, Or women showing off some skin, but being in another person's home and witnessing them in such a vulnerable state somehow made me uncomfortae. "La, Sokka, get some clothes on, we have a guest."

"How was I supposed to know that!? Besides, all of my clothes are dirty!" Katara rolled her eyes and I watched as she walked into another room and came out with some folded clothes. She chucked them at her brother and he walked back into this room to get changed.

"Here, sit at the table. My tea might not be as good as your uncles, but it's decent enough."

"Thank you. You honestly didn't have to go to such trouble."

"What are you talking about? This town is like a family; you'll learn that quickly. Soon enough, there won't be a home you haven't been in. I'm just happy I got to you first."

Her smile was beautiful. I couldn't help but smile back. She stared for a moment and blinked. "What?"

"You look better when you smile." I scratched my head and gave a nervous chuckle.

"La, Katara, stop scaring the kid." Sokka emerged from the room with blue sweats and a blue t-shirt. Everyone seemed to wear blue here. Well, the Fire Nation liked it's vibrant yellow and red colors, too. I haven't ever seen so much blue. It really complemented their eyes.

Katara and Sokka have almost the same colored eyes, I noticed. Except, there was a different spark in each one. One was much heavier, more wiser, more experienced, yet still vibrant and ready to break free at any moment, while the other was radical, explosive, skirting the edges of its boundaries, yet still controlled and experienced.

I always thought the eyes were a window to the soul.

"So, Sokka, do you waterbend?"

"Hmm? Oh, no. Only Katara. Our mother and father are nonbenders, too. Who knows how far back the line went to be a waterbender."

"It's different for me, my father was a bender and my mother wasn't."

"Why do you live with your Uncle?"

"Sokka!" Katara smacked him on the head.

"Ow! What's the deal?"

"That's so rude."

"No, it's ok." I said. "My parents… died in the war."

Sokka's face became serious, but his eyes were soft. "Our mother died in the war, too."

Katara stayed silent and set the tea cups in front of us. She took a sip of her tea and then cut the silence. "Ok, enough of that. Zuko probably has to work tomorrow. When we are done I'm going to walk him back to The Red Dragon. I don't want him to get lost so I'll be home a little late."

"You don't need to-"

Sokka interrupted me, "Once she's made up her mind, you can't change it. Do you already have food made?" She nodded. He looked at me hesitantly before adding. "Will you be eating?" Katara shook her head. Sokka seemed to frown, but didn't push it, whatever _it_ was, probably because I was here.

I stayed silent, drinking my tea. "So, Zuko, you like our little town?"

I shrugged. "I'm not sure yet." I said honestly. It made both Katara and Sokka laugh.

We finished our tea and Katara also gave me some.bread, although I tried to decline, she pointed out we hahad been working out for a long time, and as if on que my stomach growled. I nibbled on the bread sheepishly. I was about to point out that she hadn't eaten anything either, but I held back, not knowing how she would react. I wasn't sure why, but eating had been a touchy subject, I could tell by how Sokka looked from the bread to Katara, hoping she herself would take a piece, but never did.

We grabbed our coats and made our way out the door.

"Sorry about Sokka, he likes to pry."

"It's alright, I've gotten used to it."

"Yeah, I understand."

The silence grew heavy after that, yet it was still oddly… comfortable. Katara gave off a very comfortable aura. She gives off the same atmosphere I feel from many mothers and care-takers…

"So, why did you decide to become a teacher?" She stayed silent for a few moments before answering me.

"Well, I knew I wanted to stay in this town. You see, here, we tend to decide our futures very early, I started going to college at the age of 17. I learned everything I could about waterbending, mostly because throughout my whole life I didn't have a teacher. It was really my only chance.

"Despite what you think, there aren't a lot of waterbenders here, so I decided I wanted to take the responsibility of teaching those who were born with that gift to be able to properly learn what they were given." She stopped and looked up at the brightly lit sky. "I wasn't a teacher at first. I helped out with politics and was thinking about becoming a councilwoman. I realized I didn't want to do that. As much as I liked helping people, I couldn't help them the way I wanted to in that line of work. My father is much more suited for the job." Her voice seemed to go slightly heavier, her eyebrows scrunched and she looked back down at her feet.

She took another breath before continuing. "I'm a huge worry wort, you'll find out. I was super nit-picky and I didn't think I would work as a highschooler. However, my need for perfection seems to help motivate others, and it worked out just find."

"What do you teach?"

"Oh, I teach general and advanced History of the Nations, as well as advanced waterbending ideology, and the study of Spirits. Oh, and I have students come to my dojo to get PE credits."

"Wow, that's quiet the workload."

"I like to keep myself busy."

"If only my Uncle were the same, then maybe we would actually get things done."

"I've heard he's quite the lovely man."

I scoffed. "Lovely, my ass. He's just a lazy tea maker who gives horrible zen lessons."

"Well, cherish him while he's still around."

I couldn't say anything after that, and we were across the street from the tea shop.

"It was nice seeing you Zuko, I hope you come by the dojo every once in a while."

She turned to walk away, and I have no idea why, but I suddenly called out to her. "Katara!"

"Yes?" She asked and turned back to face me.

"Do you maybe want to… go out sometime?"

She seemed surprised by the question. She looked me up and down before answering. "Zuko…"

Suddenly I felt like such an ass. Just as she said the night before, she didn't want to go out with anyone. Not that I was listening or anything. I starred at my feet, not wanting to look at her. She barely knew me, of course she wouldn't want to go on a date with me or anything.

Besides, maybe she didn't like that I was younger than her, or maybe she was still getting over Jet…

Ok, maybe I was listening. However, I heard while shopping today, too.

"Actually, I'd really like that. Call me with the details, and I'll tell you my schedule."

I looked up at her and for some reason I saw her glow, not just because of something cheesy like her beauty, but the moon shined behind her and it looked like her body was absorbing the power and it was pulsing out of her. I was mesmerized. Just how powerful was she? I pushed the question out of my mind once more. I couldn't help but brighten up at her response.

"Yeah, ok, cool. I'll call you." She gave me another smile and a wave before walking away. I walked into my home and was greeted by my Uncle making tea. Wasn't he doing that when I left? I just sighed and scratched my head.

"Oh, I see you are going through something troublesome. Did you ask her out?"

"Shut up, Uncle." His eyes widened and he gave me a congratulatory pat on the shoulder.

"That's my boy!" I swated his hand away.

"Uncle?"

"Yes, my little womanizer?" I rolled my eyes and sat on the small couch we owned, letting my shoulders relax.

"I think… she's gone through a lot, and I'm not sure if I could ever be enough of her."

"Zuko, you are thinking too much. Worry about that when you propose."

"Propo-!" I smacked my uncle on the arm. "Uncle!" he just bellowed a laugh and we sat there drinking tea.

 **Hope you liked the chapter. I now Zuko is a bit OOC, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to make him younger and have Katara teach him the ways of the world, if you pick up my drift. Please Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Edited**

Chapter 4: Every Day at High School

KPOV

"Ok, class, I have all of your essays here. I'll pass them out, and while I'm doing it, I want you all to write what you know about Ba Sing Se. We are going to start learning about the Earth Kingdom and about earth benders. After that, we will get into the war between the Fire and Water Nation."

All of the students started scribbling down what they knew about the Ba Sing Se and I passed out the papers. I heard a few students whispering. I didn't really mind, until I realized what they were talking about.

"You've been there?"

"Yeah, the waiter has some really creepy eyes. There all golden and he's got a big scary scar."

"Really?"

"Yah, and the Uncle is like super fat and I hear they're firebenders!"

"What? No way! How dare some stupid Fire Nation scum try to invade on us. The nerve, especially after the war."

"I know right."

"My Gran won't let me go there to see them, she says its rude or whatever. Honestly, I think she's just worried that I'll get burned to a crisp."

I put the paper in front of one of the boys talking. "Karaa, have you ever been to the Fire Naiton?"

He looked up in fear, probably because I looked pissed. "No, Master Katara."

"Have you ever had a conversation with someone from the Fire Nation?"

"No, Master Katara."

"Have you ever seen someone firebend?"

"No, Master Katara."

I walked to the front of the room. "I personally, have studied under a firebender, I've seen their country, and I'm also friends with the workers of the Red Dragon. Just as there are bad people in the Water Nation, there are bad people in the Fire Nation. Would you be saying the same thing if we had a war with the Northern Water Nation? After all, they also have waterbenders." Thoughts of the conversation I had had with Sokka came into my mind, but I quickly pushed them away. The secrets of the North was something I tried to avoid as much as possible.

They all went silent. "I will not tolerate and trash talk or prejudice against another bender or nation. If I hear or see it persisting, I will deal with you personally, understand?"

The whole class answered at once, "Yes, Master Katara."

"Thank you. Now, I'm going to hand you markers and I want you to write what you already know about Ba Sing Se."

I had a seal jerkey to chew on for lunch and I had a club, young waterbenders alliance, of course, in my class today. They meet and talk about the history of waterbending, some new tricks they've learned, and if they have any questions, they ask me.

I already knew today was going to be a long day from that first class, but I wasn't prepared for the snowball thrown at me at lunch.

"Master Katara?"

"Yes, Hana?"

"You know about bloodbending right?" I stopped chewing on my jerky.

"… Yes, I focused on that particular part during my master studies in college."

"Is it true you can do it without the full moon?" I could feel the sweat coming from my forehead. It wasn't that I couldn't, I just felt uncomfortable with the either awe struck or disgusted faces I get when asked these kinds of questions.

"Yes, I can bloodbend without the full moon."

"Could you… teach us?"

"No."

"What? Why not?" I looked behing her to see the other club members figiting.

"Bloodbending is not to be messed with. You need a special certification to use and you have to undergo harsh training. I only ever use it for medical reasons."

"Didn't they make a special platoon or whatever of bloodbenders for the war."

I froze. "…yes… that is true."

"Wow, bloodbending is so cool."

"Hana, promise me you won't try to bloodbend without my permission."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but I gave her a hard stare, showing there was no way to deter me. "Yes, Master Katara."

I sighed in relief. "I can teach you the ideology of it and the history of it, if you want, but not today."

"Yes! Thanks Master Katara!"

"Next week I can give you a presentation on it, is that ok? And… I'll demonstrate on some rats, will that stop your curiosity?"

"Thank you so much, Master Katara, that's more than I could ever asked for."

 _Liar, you just asked me to teach you._

I just continued to nibble on my jerky. Bloodbending had always been a rough topic to discuss. Even with my vast knowledge, I could hardly understand tthe powers I possessed. It was hard to talk about bloodbending, because it felt so magical in a way. Nothing could compare to it. The schools restricted learning about it, since bloodbending was a power that tended to taint the soul. I shivered thinking back to how I had come across bloodbending and the repercussions if using it. I didn't like it, but doing something small, like with rats, was permissible, especially since it was just a demonstration.

I heard my phone vibrate on my desk and noticed I had a text from Zuko. It's been 3 days since he asked me out, but I hadn't heard anything since then. I decided not to worry about, we both had busy lives.

 _Hey, it's Zuko. Wanna go out Saturday @ 2?_

I smiled at my phone and texted back,

 _Sure, just tell me ware u wanna go ill be thare_

"Master Katara, who are you texting?"

I looked up to see one of my brighter students who was sort of a teacher's pet, but what teacher didn't like teacher's pets?

"Just a friend, Kan. We are making plans for the weekend."

One of the girls in the club must have been eavesdropping because then she was all over me. She came to my Dojo regularly. She's come since I first owned it.

"Oh? Master Katara is actually going on a date? I thought your life was only us and the Dojo." I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever, Kanta."

"She's not denying it!"

That got everyones attention. "Really? You're going on a date? Are you finally going to get married?"

"Are you going to have kids?"

"Who is it?"

"Is it Kurik?"

"Who's Kurik?"

"It's Kiroki's older brother, they grew up together. Kiroki told me he had a huge thing for Master Katara."

I couldn't handle it all.

"Settle down, settle down." They did not settle down!

Finally, I realized that if I didn't tell them something then I would never get the end of it for the rest of my classes.

"Fine! I'll tell you guys!" The town was bound to find out anyway. That is, if Nala didn't already spread around that I had a thing for him after the dinner. I hadn't told any of my friends about my upcoming date, or the fact I was with him a couple nights ago. I wasn't exactly hiding it from them, but I was wary on their reactions. Napa would of course be excited, but Esrick and Kurick had both fought in the war at an early age, and it was easier to joke about me dating someone from the fire nation then it would be to aactually see it happening. Both had decided that since the war was over, their work was unneeded, as did many men and women who had fought. Many of our people had to drop everything when they came of age to fight. I was lucky enough to have gone through great education and have the opportunity to travel.

They stayed quiet and looked up at me with their round blue and grey eyes. "Ugh, fine, you really want to know?"

"Yes!"

"It's… Zuko."

They stayed silent for a while. "What? Who's Zuko."

I knew they wouldn't know. "He's… the waiter at the Red Dragon."

"WHAT?!" they all yelled.

"You are going to go out with Fire Nation?!"

I rolled my eyes. "What Nation they are from doesn't matter."

"Wow, I didn't know that was your taste…"

"Oh, be quiet. I know you've been sneaking around with Sakino the past 2 months."

A huge blush went over Hana's face. Thankfully, that deflected the attention off of me. I know it's sort of a low blow to through a student under the bus, but everyone knew about it anyway, you can never hide anything here.

I had a prep period after lunch and I went into the Teachers Lounge to grab some tea. There was coffee, too, but I preferred tea. Coffee was just too bitter for me. And of course, there weren't many cold drinks, unless you brought them yourself. When I walked in, I saw one of the math teachers and the nurse.

"Oh! Katara! Just the person I wanted to see. I heard you have a date!"

I groaned. Sometimes I wonder how the hell word travels so fast. "Yes, I have a date with the Fire Nation boy. Can we end this conversation? I already got interrogated by my students." She just giggled and elbowed the math teacher.

"Of course one of the wisest people in this town can't just date someone from the town. You were never meant for a Water Nation guy."

I rolled my eyes. "Kas, you know that's not true. I've dated Water Nation guys before."

"Yeah, and look how that turned out?" The math teacher just started fidgeting. I tried not to flinch at her judgemental words. The issues I had been through were very much publicized due to my close ties with the city council. Some sympathized, but many saw it as a way for publicity and drama, even though no one really knew what happened. Kas and I had gone to high school together. She used to have a crush on Jet.

"Huk, you don't have to sit in on this conversation, go prep for your class. Oh, bully Kiroki, she's been spreading rumors about me and Kurik." He just laughed and walked out of the room with the coffee in his hand.

When he left, Kas's face became a little more serious. "Seriously, Katara, what are you thinking? I know everyone's pushing for you to start dating again. But, Fire Nation, seriously?"

"Look, he asked me out on a date, and I'm going on one, it's not like we plan to go off and get married or anything."

"I'm just telling you to be careful."

"Kas, you of all people should not be telling me that." I grew irritated. "And we both know you don't actually care." She didn't like when the attention was on anyone but herself.

She huffed and poked her chin out. "Whatever." She stalked out of the room with her tea in hand and when she left I slumped down against the counter and started to use my bending to mix the sugar in my tea.

I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and I didn't even look at who was calling before answering it.

"OMYGOSH YOU ARE GOING ON A DATE WITH ZUKO?!"

I sighed and rubbed my brow line. "Who told you?"

"What are you talking about? It's the hottest topic in here right now!"

"What? Are you telling me everyone in the clothing store knows already? Who told them?"

"I don't know but I think the manager found out first. Isn't his son in one of your classes?" I sighed and took a sip of the tea.

"Nala, please don't make a big deal out of this." She huffed, but didn't say anything. "Nala!"

"Fine! Whatever. When is it though? What are you guys doing?"

"It's on Saturday, and I don't know what we are doing. I wouldn't tell you anyway because then you'd get the whole town to crash it."

"Whatever."

"You did that last time!"

"I did not!"

"Yes, you did!"

"Ok, maybe a little…"

"Nala, I have to get back to work, I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok, you better."

I hung up the phone and set the cup down on the counter. I used my bending to bring a stream from the cup to my mouth. Waterbending relaxed me, and since I haven't been doing it much lately, I had this need for release. My shoulders were tense from being so defensive all day. It was hard to waterbend myself, especially on my back. I wish there was someone else I trusted enough to work on my muscles.

I've tried to go to one of the shops where they give you messages as well as relax your muscles with a waterbending technique that's pretty well known. I just couldn't… let loose knowing someone else was moving around my muscles and the water in my body. It wasn't bloodbending but… it still made my nervous. And the way they did it was just… they weren't used to working with a woman's body that constantly works out. I felt weaker for a whole week, until all those nots came back.

I rubbed my shoulder a bit with my other hand and when I finished my tea, I threw my paper cup in the trash and walked back to my classroom to start planning my lessons for the rest of the day, and for tomorrow.

Later that day I went to the Dojo because I had a class. Of course, the hot topic for the day was the fact I was going on a date with Zuko. I'm sure even Zuko heard about it. Even if I loved this town, there were still parts of it I simply couldn't stand. Sometimes, it's nice to never be really noticed in a sea of faces in the city.

Sometimes I don't want to be seen.

I really needed to let off some steam. One of my oldest students, who was 17, had been training with me for the past 2 years, and today, I decided to have a little spar with him. I had only owned the Dojo for 2 years, the owner before me had gotten old and weak and was glad to put it in my hands when I decided to quite my political job. The students weren't really sure what to make of me, but I soon was able to get a good rep and respect from anyone who came here. I wasn't a Master for nothing.

He was in fact a waterbender, however he had a lot of trouble getting the hang of some simple moves when I first came. I wasn't really sure what exactly the old master was teaching them, but when I came in, most of the waterbenders struggled. I was the same when I was younger. When I first went to the Northern Water Nation, I was looked down upon for my mediocre bending, which only pushed them further to just throw me in with the healers. Luckily, there was a master who sympathized me and was willing to train me late into the nights so I could keep up with my male peers.

"Ok everyone, pick a partner to par with. There's two barrels next to each mat. Of course, if you want to try and go outside, I'd encourage it." No one wanted to go outside in their thin workout clothes. "Kunas, you're with me."

We bowed to each other and then stood there for a few seconds, both of us in a tight stance. I knew I could take him down in a mere few seconds, but the point of this isn't for my benefit, but for theirs, and I just happen to get a nice workout out of it.

He acted first, flinging a water whip at me and I easily deflected it, turning it back to him, freezing it into ice shards, aiming straight for his chest. He melted to ice and threw the water back into the barrel, he tried to fling tiny droplets of water at me at once, but I deflected it and put it inside my own barrel. I then took out all of the water out of the barrel and began circling it around my body as Kun tried to strike me in all directions. My circle of water absorbed his attacks. Finally, he decided a more direct approach, dropping the water to my feet and trying to freeze my feet. I whipped at the ice, cracking it as soon as it froze, however he then tried to jab at my face with a fist full of ice. It was well thought out, but with my feet firmly planted, I easily ducked down barely caring about my balance and grabbed his ankle so he would fall onto his back. I turned my water into a large ice spear and aimed it for his neck.

"I'm out." Kun said. We put all of the water back into the barrels and I held out an arm to help him up. He smiled up at me and gladly took his hand. "Thank you, Master Katara."

"Thank you, Kunas."

Before we went back to sparing, he blurted out, "My family would like to invite you to dinner."

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

"Well, my mom felt bad that we don't pay as much…"

"Kunas, you know I told you that you don't need to worry about that."

"Well, I'm graduating soon, so my family is planning a big dinner, all of my cousins are coming!"

"Really? Then I wouldn't mind coming by. When is it?"

"The next full moon."

"That's the best time!"

"I thought you'd think so." I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

"Kunas, you've improved so much, I'm so proud of you. I know that you'll be a fine waterbender in the future."

He bowed low and I could hear the crack in his voice. "Thank you, Master Katara."

We stayed there for a moment before another girl tapped my shoulder. "Mind if I cut in? Kiroki has some questions about technique for you."

"Sure. Kunas, we'll continue later. I hope you both do well."

And that's pretty much what went on. It was dark by the time it ended, and I made sure that everyone had their heavy snow gear and waited until each one had left before locking up the Dojo.

When I made it home I took out my laptop and started writing the project prompts for my students. I wanted them to learn about the different areas of the Earth Nation. Also, in my Spirits class, we were about to start covering the moon spirit, which was always a favorite. I want to finish the best of it before the hard winter rolls in. School stays out of session because of the danger of traveling and the heavy snow nearly locks most of us in our houses. I shut the Dojo down, too. There's no point in endangering my students lives.

"Katara!?" My brother screamed swinging the door open.

I sighed and swung my head low. "What, Sokka?"

"Is it true that you are going to marry Zuko?"

I swung my head around and gave him an exasperated look, " _What?!_ Of course not!"

"That's what I heard in the market today!"

"Stop gossiping with the old grannys! There info is always wrong, you know this!"

"Ok, well, I just wanted to make sure. So… you're not actually in to him or anything, are you?"

"I'm going on a date with him."

"What?! Woah, there! No way. Why a Fire Nation boy out of anyone! You traveled the world and you choose FIRE NATION?"

"Sokka, you're being really immature about this. It's just one date."

"'One date' leads to all kinds of things, Katara!" I rolled my eyes.

"I'm working; can you leave me alone?" He huffed and crossed his arms, setting the grocerys on the counter and roughly putting them away. I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior.

Sokka noticed I had cooked and smiled. "I may not like your decisions but I love your cooking." He had finished putting away the groceries and pulled out a plate. I noticed his eyes on the back of my head. "...would you like me to make you a plate?" I shook my head, not daring to look at him.

"I had some before you came home." I looked at the clock on my screen, hoping Sokka wouldn't have remembered I only got off of work at the dojo an hour ago. Which meant there was no way I could have eaten. The cries fish would have also given me away, since it was perfectly set and untouched. He didn't comment though, only sat in front of me and chewed on his food. I did my best not to glance up and stare at the fish. I was hungry, but I didn't want to eat. If I did, I knew that might I'd have took myself in the mirror and notice how big my thighs were, my double chin that poked out, and the fat that simply wouldn't turn into muscle on my arms and stomach. I hated it.

"One of my students invited me to a family dinner, would you like to join?"

Sokka paused. "Will you be actually eating at this dinner."

I nodded, knowing that it was the only way to get him off my back. He nodded back, and put his dish in the sink. He mumbled a goodnight before going into his room.

I drank some tea to settle my hungry stomach before making my way to the bedroom. Sokka went to bed hours before. I hadn't even realized the time when I finally looked up from my comouter. In a haze I stumbled to my bedroom, suddenly remembering my upcoming date and smile.fell on my lips as I slipped into a seamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Edited**

Chapter 5: The Date

ZPOV

The date was actually going well. I didn't think this was possible, but it is.

It was also really fun. So, what I decided to do was have her meet me by the lake they have on the outskirts of town (thank you grocery man for that information) and we went ice skating. I also brought some of the snacks and made food that originates from the Fire Nation, so we could eat and I could show her something new.

Well… The new part didn't work out, having now found out she had been to the Fire Nation and has tried many foods. Her telling me.before had simply slipped my mind. I kind of felt bad I hadn't remembered.

"You really like to travel, don't you?" I asked her.

"Well, it's not just that. The reason I was able to travel so much was because I was studying. You know, the North Pole can only do so much for me. Although they have moved past their more traditional ways of not teaching women the more… violent side of waterbending, it was still frowned upon if I… 'knew too much'" she used her fingers to emphasize the air quotes. We both laughed at the thought.

"Learning the fundamentals of each bendings help you understand your own and really hone in the power. My moves are normally original, because I like to mix up what I've learned."

"That's really cool." I paused, not entirely sure how she would react to my next statement. "I was… in the army for a while, and I was only stationed outside of Fire Nation territory a few time. One of them was a village in the Earth Nation. I once saw a performance of dancers who were hoping around on the rocks they would bend for each other, except the movements were so much more fluid than most earthbenders I see. It's a great combination, I think."

I was happy to see she hadn't taken much thought into me being in the army. It was well known that many people had been forced into joining the army, me being one of those people. She probably didn't want to know either way. "Exactly! I want the world to have the same knowledge as I do. To spread it… its my dream." In a split second I saw such childlike joy in her face. Her cheeks were flush from the cold wind, and her eyes kept upward, staring at the blue sky, reflecting the color off of her own blue gaze. As soon as it was there, it vanished. Her eyes darkened and her cheeks became tight. "But… I can't. Sometimes, the world can't handle too much knowledge."

I didn't say anything, because there was a much heavier truth underlying beneath her tone. Something that I didn't want to ask about. Then, she changed the topic. "So, why'd you decide to ask me out?"

Heat crept to my face, reminding me of my high school days when I saw her fake innocent look as she batted her eyelashes up at me. She threw another firecracker in her mouth and chewed as she watched me.

"Well, my uncle said I needed friends my own age…" _really Zuko? REALLY?!_

"Oh, is that all? Because, I'd be happy to show you around town. Everyone knows who you are, I guess I can introduce you…" I scratched my head.

"Well.. That would be nice. But umm, that's not what I meant to say."

"Oh?" She popped another cracker into her mouth. I watched her lips intently as she chewed. I noticed her smile, looking into her amused eyes made me blush, she had noticed.

"Uhhh, what I'm trying to say is I would like to hang out with you. Specifically. If you catch my drift."

"Oh, I think I understand." She stood from our bench and grabbed my hand. "Let's go, I'm going to show you around town."

I wasn't exactly prepared, but I didn't have much else to do since Uncle told me not to come home for the rest of the day. He closed down the shop and went to a hot spring.

She continuously pulled me out of the outskirts until ten minutes later we came upon a cabin. I was a bit nervous, not knowing what was about to happen. My hands started to heat up as Katara knocked on the wooden door.

The door swung open to reveal a short pudgy man with long brown hair and grey eyes. When he saw Katara, he gave her a toothy grin, although he didn't have many teeth, and pulled her into a hug.

"'Tara! 'S nice to see you, girlie. Haven't been comin' by much lately. Shekra has been missin' you. Who dis' feller?"

"Garrook, this is Zuko, he's the waiter at the Red Dragon."

"Dat der the Fire boy?! 'Tara, you got to stop pickin' up them strays all de time. Well, is nice to meet yuh, Fire boy, want tea?" He looked back at Katara. "You has better be comin' in or you'll make Shekra cry. She's making the tea right now."

"Of course we will have some tea. Sokka is back, and he wanted me to personally come by to see if I could get some of your famous slug fish."

This 'Garrook' left the door open and turned around to walk away, allowing us to walk inside. I wasn't really sure what was happening, so I just stayed behind Katara and tried to keep up with the conversation.

"That darned feller is smart not showin' his dumb face here. He know I'm too soft on you, 'Tara. 'Course I'll give you some slug. Shekra, guess who's here?"

There was a little girl, no older than 9 standing on a stool, pouring hot water into tea cups while wearing an apron.

"'TARA!" the girl screamed. She set down the pot and ran over to Katara. Katara grabbed her and swung her around, Garrook was bellowing a laugh that oddly reminded me of my uncle.

"'Tara, what is a wrong wit de boys face?"

"Shekra, that's not very nice. Apologize to Zuko." The little girl pouted and when Katara set her down she looked up at me with big doe eyes.

"I'm a sorry misser. I ain't no used to de city folk, so I was a wonderin' bout your face. I din mean no harm."

"Of course it's fine. Would you like to touch it?" I bent down and showed her my face. She slowly moved her hand and poked my cheek, where the edge of my scar was. She looked at my face to see if it hurt, and I did my best not to flinch because her nail was pretty sharp. She seemed to approve of my lack of response and used her hand to cup my cheek.

I was actually surprised, Katara had never asked me about my scar. Everyone except her has asked. The only reason Sokka probably hasn't asked was because of the wrath of Katara he would face for saying something so rude. In a way, I was grateful, but I also kind of wished she would, it was a way to open up to her.

The thought of me actually wanting to open up to someone, someone who I had been told since broth was a natural enemy, made me feel weird. I wasn't sure how I wanted to handle it. Sure, I liked Katara, a lot, but we still barely knew each other, and I didn't know how she would react if I went to fast with exposing myself.

"Misser, you should a get 'Tara ta fix it. She fix mine!"

I looked up at Katara in question and she just waved her hand. "It's nothing."

"Nothing!" Garrook huffed. "Ya see, last time her brother came back, he was a sneakin up on my here cabin, and he a tried to steal meh slug. He scared here Shekra half to death and she tripped into our fire. Burns all up her arms, that she had. Then here come ole' mighty 'Tara savin' the day and she fix all up again. After that, she starting comin more often, teachin' Shekra to read and all. This here is a nice feller."

"It wasn't that heroic of me, I was just fixing my brothers mistakes, and helping out a little girl."

"I'm sure Tui and La has blessed you themselves, I do. No other way to explain you."

"Well, Garrook, it was a nice chat, but I'm going to introduce Zuko to Kurik, since he's probably at the bakery right now."

Garrook gave me a look and then laughed. "Your better watch it kid. Kurik got them pink eyes for 'Tara."

Katara, Shekra, and Garrook all laughed, while I stood there not really knowing what exactly happened. Garrook wrapped up some weird looking fish thing and gave it to Katara before we left.

When we walked out I realized something.

"We didn't drink any tea."

Katara laughed. "If we drank tea with anyone in this town, you'll end up staying at their house for a week." I scratched my head.

"Who's Kurik? What are pink eyes." This made her laugh more.

"Kuriks a friend. And I'm sure you'll figure out the slang older people use soon enough." I scratched my head again. She laughed. "You do that a lot when you're nervous."

I scratched my head again, and then realized what I was doing and dropped my hand which only made her laugh more. I smiled, because her laugh was pretty, and it rang like bells.

It took us a while, and the sun was already starting to go down, but we finally made it to where Kurik worked. It was a bakery.

"Kurik?!" Katara yelled into the nearly vacant shop.

"Master Katara?!" an excited boy's voice yelled back. I almost sighed in relief when he came out as a teenager. He saw me and suddenly gave me a death stare.

"Hey, Kiroki, is Kurik here?" His glare didn't falter but he nodded his head.

"BROTHER! KATARA IS HERE!"

"WHAT? REALLY?"

There was a sudden crash and fast stomps of footsteps and out came the man who I assumed was Kurik. His face was bright and his smile wide when he spotted Katara, but his ecstacy faltered when his eyes came upon me.

"Hey Katara… you must be Zuko."

I may not have been here for long, but I knew that Kurik had had a long crush on Katara. I recognized him as one of the guys she was eating dinner with when I first met them. I wasn't really sure how I was supposed to act. Finally, I think I understood what pink eyes were.

"Uh, yeah, I'm Zuko."

"I'm taking Zuko around town to meet everyone."

"Oh, so… this is your date?" I scratched my head and Katara just scoffed.

"La, Kurik, no need to be so judgemental. Ok, well, can I have some seaweed cookies? I'm going to visit Grangran tomorrow and you know how she loves her cookies."

He rolled his eyes and pulled out the cookies from the display case. "Of course, its on the house for Grangran. Tell her I say hi."

"Of course. Well, we are going to go stop by Nalas and then it'll probably be too late for anything else. Hey, make sure Kiroki is doing his homework!"

Kurik just laughed and Katara grabbed my hand before heading out the door. Well, my glove, but that's beside the point. I liked knowing she was okay with touching me. I did my best to ignore the glare Kurik gave our hands embrace.

She was right when she said the next stop we made would most likely be our last. There wasn't many lampposts in the village, and the sun had already gone down. Lucky for me, Katara hadn't let go of my hand.

There had been quite a few people out and busying themselves on the street when we first made our trek from Garrooks house, but it changed once we left Kuriks. There was hardly a soul on the dimly lit streets, no one to gawk at me or the fact Katara was with me. I was almost sick of the constant questioning I had been getting from customers. I couldn't understand why they felt the need to to know every aspect of one's personal life. Katara was never fazed by the looks, never really payed attention to them, and I appreciated that.

Finally, we made it to what looked like a clothing store, and there were quite a few young women inside. Katara walked in and hung her coat and gloves up on the wall, having to let go of my hand. I did the same.

"Oh! Katara! It's so nice to see you!" A girl who had light colored hair and pale skin with brown eyes came to greet us.

"Hey. Maddi, I was wondering if Nala was here."

Maddi looked over Katara's shoulder and stared at me for a moment before nodding slowly and making her way to the back of the shop. Katara started to look through whatever was there and I sort of just hovered behind her.

"Maddi is from the Air Nation. She and her family moved here right after she was born. They wanted a new start, away from the judgy air nomads that run the Nation." I just nodded. It explained her unique features and name. Although many Fire Nation citizens had lighter skin, most had brighter colored eyes and dark hair. The Earth Kingdom was known for its diversity, but it's main roots were actually very similar to Fire Nation. Native Air Nation citizens tend to have light brown hair or dirty blond, with a mix of different shades of brown eyes. They also were on the lake side.

"Omg, Katara! Why would you come here for a date? La! What is wrong with you?!" The girl who I assumed was Nala, hugged Katara and was scolding her at the same time. She barely acknowledged my existence. "Oh, Zuko. You don't have to keep following her around!" She said when she finally looked at me. "She's not very good at this, please help her." Katara punched her friends arm and Nala whined in response. "Damn, girl, you know I'm delicate." I also recognized her as the girl who was with them at the dinner. If I recall correctly, there was only one other guy besides her brother who was with them. I wonder who he is. Nala suddenly broke me out of my thoughts by sticking her hand out. "Well, I'm Nala, this poorly romantically educated girls friend. Best friend when she's in a good mood." That made both of them laugh, though I wasn't really sure what exactly had been funny, it was nice seeing Katara so carefree and friendly. Not the she's not friendly, but she has a different feel to her when she's around Nala, its hard to describe. I shook Nala's hand and she nodded her head. "Good handshake, I approve."

Katara rolled her eyes. "We just came from Kuriks, I'm introducing Zuko to everyone in town. We didn't get many people in, but I'm sure he'll meet everyone at some point."

"Really now? Well, I wouldn't mind showing you around at any time… Katara? What's in those bags?"

Katara swung the bags away from her friend, I laughed at the overdramatized gesture. "Nothing for you."

"You said you just came from Kuriks… OMG did you get seaweed cookies?! You have to give me some!"

"No! It's for grangran!"

"I'm sure grangran will understand…"

Katara pushed her friend off of her and made sure the bag was out of reach. "Fine, I see we aren't really friends… you just use me for cookies." Nala put a hand on her heart.

"Of course not! You get me cookies _because_ I love you!" Katara rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Well, I'll let you get back to work. I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah…" they hugged again and we walked out of the shop.

"Ok, well, I can walk you back to the restaurant."

"Sure."

"Sorry about her. She can be a little…"

"It's fine! It was fun watching you." Katara slipped her gloved hand into mine and we continued to walk down the street that way.

We were only a few blocks away from the Red Dragon, when we spotted an old man huddled on a bus bench. Katara saw him and stopped, walking across the street suddenly in his direction. I was slightly confused as to what she was doing, but I followed her anyway. She tapped the man's shoulder and she sighed when he looked up. "Did they kick you out again?" He said nothing but nodded. "You can sleep in the dojo, I'll walk with you there so I can unlock it." She turned to look back at me. "Sorry, Zuko, you know the rest of the way, right?" I nodded. "I'm going to take him to my Dojo."

Suddenly I blurted, "Can I come?"

"Zuko…"

"It's not that I don't think you can't take him by yourself, I'd just feel better if… I went with you."

She just nodded and I helped the man up and helped him to walk, since it seemed he had a limp. The walk was silent and the sky was pitch black except for the few stars that peeked out. Although the silence urked me, I didn't say anything, it didn't seem like the right time to. Katara was waterbending ice out of our way so we wouldn't slip. I could have melted it where I stood, but I couldn't say as much for the guy I was helping, so I was grateful.

After what seemed like forever, we made it to the Dojo. It seemed creepy at night, as if haunted by unknown wandering spirits. I could ask Katara what she thought later. However, it might be rude asking if her Dojo was haunted.

She opened up the sliding door and switched on a light. "You can set him over there, I'm going to bring him some blankets." I nodded and did as she said. The man was wracked with shivers, his body practically convulsing. I took my gloves off and thought about heating up my hands while holding his, but he seemed almost afraid of the world around him, I'm pretty sure I would only freak him out more.

"Here you go. I'm going to lock the door behind me, but you know how to unlock it right?" the man heard her, but it was as if he couldn't see her. His eyes were glazed over and seemed to be staring at everything and nothing at the same time. She pulled the blanket over the man's body and then shut the lights off. She locked the door behind her and we could still hear the heavy breaths of the man as we walked away. For some reason, I heard that ragged breath echoing in my mind as we walked off.

"He's a veteran of the war. He… has a lot of issues, and normally gets kicked out of wherever he's staying. It's been hard for him…" I could hardly see her, but I could see her warm breath in the dim light.

"Have you let him stay there before?"

"Yeah. There aren't a lot of homeless people here, but whenever I see one on a street, especially since it's getting colder, I have them stay in the Dojo." I nodded. Suddenly she continued. "You know… it's hard being like that. Being haunted by the war. When I studied medicine, I went to a mental institution for a day… I've seen some horrible things, things no one should ever see, no one should ever have to experience. I know what it's like to have to survive not knowing what was going to happen to me the next day." Her hood was covering most of her face, but I felt like her face would have a similar one to the man I had just seen. I wasn't sure what she'd seen, and I didn't know how I could help.

Katara seemed to break out of her daze and look up at the sky. "It's really late. I think you should just stay at my place until the morning."

"What?" I would've choked if I were eating or drinking anything.

"It's too late to walk all the way to the Red Dragon. Plus, I'm really tired. You can sleep at my place, it's no problem."

"No, I couldn't-"

"Look," she said, cutting me off. "I've only shown you the way from the Dojo once and with it being pitch black, I don't want you getting lost or getting jumped or something. I don't want to have to walk all the way to the Red Dragon and walk back to my house, ok?" She sounded serious, and also very tired.

"Ok.."

"Good." We walked to her apartment and when we entered, there was some kind of sliced bread on the couch and the tear was still warm. We could hear Sokka snoring in the other room.

"Ok, do you want some tea or anything? You could take a shower too, I'm sure some of Sokka's old clothes could fit you."

"Umm.. no it's fine. I just need to call my Uncle real quick."

"Ok, go in that room right there, you'll be sleeping in there."

"What? No, I can sleep on the couch."

"No, I'll sleep on the couch. I still have some work I need to finish and I normally just stay on the couch anyway."

After a little bit of more arguing, I finally gave in and she pushed me into her room. I would believe her if she said she never slept on it. It was folded perfectly and didn't look like there was a single wrinkle. I called my uncle first.

"Zuko! I thought you had maybe gotten stuck in the snow!"

"No, some stuff happened and I'm staying over at Katara's house."

"Wow, I didn't know you were planning to move that fast." I rolled my eyes.

"Uncle, you know it's not like that." He just laughed in response. "I'll be back early in the morning to help with the shop, ok?"

"Take your time, Zuko, enjoy your youth."

"Ok, good night, Uncle."

"Have fun!" I hung up the phone and set it on the bed stand. I then heard a knock on the door.

"Are you sure you don't want any tea? I'm having some right now."

I walked out of the room and we sat at the table drinking tea and Katara was nibbling on the bread that had been on the table. She only had a small piece, but for some reason actually seeing her eat was a surprise. I didn't want to comment on it though, so as not to be rude. "Thank you, I had a lot of fun today."

I laughed. "You were leading me around the whole time, anyway. I can't really say that I did much."

"Sorry about that."

"No, it was nice meeting your friends."

"They were definitely excited to meet you."

"I don't think Kurik was…" I mumbled and took another sip of the tea. Katara just laughed.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine."

"Mmmhm."

"Ok, well, make yourself comfortable. If you need a shower or the toilet, the bathroom's right there, and the kitchen is right here. If you need anything you can always ask me. I'm sorry, but I have to start working on some stuff."

I nodded. "What are you working on?"

She stood and walked to sit on the couch, I followed her and she pulled out her laptop. "I'm doing lesson plans and I have some emails about some of the trade and exports for the town. You probably came here by plane, and arrived in the central city, but we actually are right on the coast. We have a port on the outskirts and I'm trying to make sure everything goes smoothly."

"You really do a lot."

She just shrugged. "I don't normally deal with the port, but they are having trouble with Earth Nation and I'm pretty good with foreigners. I'm friends with you and Maddi after all, aren't I?"

We both laughed at that. Soon enough, she became consumed in her computer, typing away, sending emails, and Agni knows what else.

I yawned and decided I'd go to bed. When I went into the room, I looked behind me to see that Katara had pulled a huge stack of papers from somewhere and was scribbling on all of them. I closed the door behind me, took off my shirt and thick pants and went under the light blue sheets. Soon enough, I was able to fall into a comfortable sleep.

 **How are you liking some of my small changes?**


	6. Chapter 6

**Edited**

Chapter 6: The Morning After

KPOV

"OMYGOD WHY IS ZUKO IN YOUR BED?!" I woke up with a start and quickly bent my sweat into a sharp whip for whoever was the threat. After the sleepy haze started to wear off, I bent the water into the sink, because it was just Sokka freaking out. I noticed Zuko had also jumped up into a defensive postion when Sokka screamed.

"La, Sokka, do you know what time it is?"

Sokka ran over to me with a half-naked Zuko trailing behind him. "What is this?!" Sokka yelled motioning to Zuko's gorgeous chest.

I mean… I didn't think that…

"Sokka, chill. It got late last night and Zuko stayed over."

"Why?!"

I gave him a look and he shrunk down a little. "Sokka, do I really have to explain myself to you?"

"Look I-" Zuko tried to cut in.

Sokka and I both interrupted saying, "Stay out of this!"

"Katara, I know you're all grown up, but you can't just bring random guys to your house!"

"Sokka, it was late, and I was too tired to take him all the way back to the Red Dragon. Leave it alone. Zuko, you can get ready and I'll walk you to the Red Dragon in 20 minutes. I'm going out today anyway."

Sokka waged his finger dramatically. I knew I was going to win this argument, and he knew it to, so he was playing in a joking manner now. "Nuh, uh. We've barely been able to hang out!"

"I'm going to go take some seaweed cookies to gran gran. Oh, I got you your slug fish." Just as I'd known, his face drooped down and slobber started to drip out of the corner of his mouth. "I'm cooking it for dinner, so I'll be back before it gets dark." Sokka nodded and pushed passed me so he could see the fish for himself in the freezer.

I pushed Zuko into my room and closed the door. I tried not to think about how warm his back was when I pushed on it, or how nice his muscles felt under my hands, or that he was only in his boxers really, or that his hair looked incredibly sexy.

I haven't had sex in a really, really long time.

After I closed the door, I turned to him and sighed, rubbing my shoulder. "I'm sorry about him. I forgot he is pretty easy to freak out. You'd think the military would be helped with that."

"Oh, it's fine. Um, sorry about having to stay over."

"No, it's fine." I looked over at my alarm clock and realized the sun wasn't even up yet. "You can sleep in for another hour or so, make yourself comfortable, the sun doesn't come up for a while."

"Yeah, but after that, it's gonna be hard to go to sleep." I sighed again, giving an apologetic look. "No! I didn't mean it like that… I'm just a really light sleeper." I rolled my eyes and he scratched his head which made me laugh.

"Look, why don't you jump in the shower and I'll get in after you and then we can head out."

"Umm… yeah, that's fine."

It was then that I became painfully aware I was still in the clothes I had on yesterday and Zuko looked magnificent without clothing.

I should've walked out of the room, go into Sokkas to grab him some clothes and a towel for the shower. I couldn't take my eyes away from his chest though. It seemed like something I've seen in a magazine. I wouldn't be surprised if I had seen this chest of a magazine. Sure, there were a few scars here and there, but it was so built and awesome.

This is probably one of the most awkward things I've ever done in my entire life- and trust me I've don't some pretty awkward things- and I touched his chest.

When I realized what I had done, I wanted to slap myself in the face and bash my head up against the wall.

I remember feeling vulnerable last night with him. He made me feel like a teenage girl again. I hadn't felt like that in such a long time…

Before I could yank my hand away and go stab myself with some ice spikes, he grabbed my hand and started to slowly bring my hand to wrap around his neck. He was slightly taller than me, and I didn't stop him from moving my hand. I was trying so hard not to blush, but I was failing epically. He grabbed my other hand, staring at me, waiting for me to stop him, but I could hardly look him in the eye. I didn't stop him though.

He was practically _naked._

He rested my hands on the back of his neck and brought one of his hands to my waist to pull me a little bit closer and his other hand he brought to my face. He cupped my cheek and rose my head so I'd have to look at him. He was staring at my eyes and then flickered to my lips.

I really hope Sokka isn't wondering what's taking so long.

And then he kissed me.

After a few seconds, we broke apart, still kinda holding each other. We had closed our eyes and now they were open, just looking at each other. The first thing that went through my head was, _OMYGOD ZUKO JUST KISSED ME, WHAT DO I DO NOW?!_

But, I made sure to play it cool.

"I should get your towel."

He seemed kind of winded when he responded. "Uhh… yeah."

 _Way to be the smooth adult, Katara. Real smooth._

I took my hands off his neck and he let go of my waist and then I said. "I'll leave the towel and some clothes in the bathroom, just leave the door unlocked." And on that note I walked out of the room.

I saw Sokka still fawning over the slug fish and I rolled my eyes. "Sokka, I'm gonna have Zuko borrow some of your clothes."

"Whatever, I'm preparing the fish for tonight."

I laughed and walked into the room Sokka was using. I pulled out a long sleeve and some snow pants Zuko could throw on. I heard the bathroom door click shut and I grabbed a towel from the hall closet. I knocked on the bathroom door, hearing the shower and a mumbled response. I opened up the door and steam was thrown into my face as I set down the clothes and towel on the counter. I closed the door quickly before I tried to sneak a peek.

Don't do it Katara. Just don't.

I didn't.

I cleaned up everything I had taken out to work on and packed up the cookies again. I picked out what I planned on wearing today and all that was left was to wait for Zuko.

I checked my phone and saw I had a text from Nala.

 _If u don't want him, ill take him_

I laughed and texted back:

 _Nah, I think ill keep this 1_

I didn't think she'd be awake, but I got an instant response.

 _NO WAY WHAT HAPPENED._

I rolled my eyes.

 _Nothing_

 _Nothing? Bull_

 _It's not bull_

 _OMG HE KISSED U_

 _Maybe…_

 _DETAILS._

 _Oh, gotta go, he just got out of the shower._

I put my phone on silent and locked the screen knowing she was going to flip out. She makes it so easy to mess with her sometimes.

He was actually getting out of the shower. I grabbed my towel out of my closet and my clothes to jump in the shower myself.

He came out with the towel around his neck and wearing Sokkas clothes. Zuko was a bit taller, but Sokka was more built, the shirt was a bite more loose. His hair was still dripping. I took notice of the scar that sat on his face. Curiosity spiked within me each time I saw it, but I knew better than to have asked. I myself have some scars that I hoped no one would ever ask about.

I walked right passed him to get into the bathroom and took a hot shower. While inside, Sokka yelled to me, "Hey! I'm gonna go out to the city. Tell Grangran I love her."

"K!"

I walked out of the bathroom and saw Zuko sipping on some tea. He held up the cup and said, "Sokka served me some."

"Wow, I didn't know he had manners." Zuko laughed at that.

"He didn't want to admit it, but he felt bad for waking us up." I rolled my eyes at that. "You roll your eyes a lot, it's pretty funny."

"Thanks…?" We both laughed. "Well, I can take you back to the Red Dragon if you want. I don't know if you need to be there by a certain time or…?"

"My Uncle has the shop open, but he's testing out a new employee, I mean, I can go whenever you need me to."

I thought about it for a while and decided I'd take him with me to meet Grangran. "Want to come with me to go see Grangran? It's about a 40-minute walk."

"Are you sure that's ok?"

"Pshh, of course! Grangran loves meeting new people. Oh, and we can meet people on the way."

So that's what we do. We stop at stores on the way to meet more people. Everyone is just so excited to meet him. They were also all very excited to meet Zuko.

Finally, we made it to the big mansion that holds most of the elders in the town. "This is Igloo palace."

Zuko took in the whole thing and all he had to say was, "Wow…"

"Yah, the biggest building in the town. We take care of our super old people and our super young people."

"I see."

"Yep, and it actually doesn't cost a lot to have our elders live here. If our nation is good for anything, it's its health care for elderly. Once we reach a certain age, we are practically worshiped. If you become a citizen, you'll be the same when you get older. I doubt you would want to stay here though." Zuko just laughed, not really responding. I thought back to the kiss, and our new relationship. What if one day Zuko did decide to leave? Thoughts of possible abandonment was pushed out of my head as the doors swung open.

We walked inside and I greeted the lady at the front desk. "Hi Nila!"

"Katara! It's so nice to see you. Is this the Zuko I've heard so much about?" She stuck out her hand and Zuko shook it. I was thankful he got used to meeting new people now. The first few introductions were awkward and forced, but he was getting the hang of it. "Grangran is in the garden right now. Oh! Are those seaweed cookies? You spoil her too much! Sokka brought in donuts last time."

"You know how she loves her sweets."

Nila just motioned for us to move along and I laughed as I led Zuko down the hall to the back garden. It wasn't much of a garden now, what with all the snow, but Grangran loved to watch the sky.

"Grangran, I brought you something."

"Katara, you're too sweet to me." My grangran was probably the oldest person in the home. Because of that, everyone looked up to her and saw he as someone very wise. People come to visit her all the time looking for life advice and whatnot, but I came because I knew her time was coming close to an end, but both Sokka and I refuse to really talk about it. "Who is this fellow?" The look she gave me told me she knew exactly who it was, but she was much more proper than most of the people in this village.

"I'm Zuko, I just moved here from the Fire Nation. My Uncle and I are the ones that work at the Red Dragon."

"It's very nice to meet you, boy. So, how are you Katara? You haven't come to visit in a while, I thought you'd forgotten about me."

"I could never forget about you! But, you know how busy life can be. Besides, theres been some trouble at the port."

"Oh, La, Katara, can you please let them deal with that themselves. You left the politics years ago."

"Gran, just because I left, doesn't mean I don't have some responsibility."

"Hmph." She nibbled on some cookies. "Did Nala eat any?"

I laughed. "No, I made sure she didn't. She tried though!"

"That little theif. She's been like that since she was a baby, I tell you! So, Zuko, how do you like the Southern Water Nation?"

"It's very nice… Grangran…?" Gran laughed.

"Yes, everyone calls me Grangran." It's funny because a lot of the people my age don't actually know my Grans name, and she likes to mess with them by keeping it that way. I think she plans to do the same with Zuko.

He didn't press on about her name after that. We talked some more, I gave Grangran the update on the gossip, although I'm sure she already knew much more than I did. Grangran had this strange way of knowing anything.

Then she threw a bombshell on me.

"How's your father." I didn't say anything for a while. Zuko was looking from me to my grangran, not really sure what was going on.

"He hasn't called me."

"He will soon enough."

"Gran, it's been 2 years. He's not going to call me."

"Katara! He's your father, he will call."

"He only calls Sokka, and you know that. Can we not talk about this when we have a guest with us?"

Grangran gave Zuko a side glance, as if she planned this. As if she wanted him to hear about my stupid family drama. "Well, I think it's time for us to leave. Zuko needs to get back to the Red Dragon." I hated getting angry at Grangran, and she knew thatthat. She was using my stretched out patience against me. But, I wasn't going to let her manipulate me into talking in front of Zuko. Thoughts of him leaving and us not even staying together that long still nagged at the back of my mind. He'll, we barely knew each other, and I wasn't sure if I was ready to open up and tell him about my father yet.

"Goodbye Katara." Luckily, Zuko didn't say anything after that. We walked back to the tea shop in silence. After about 20 minutes of walking, he finally talked.

"Can I ask what your father does?" I sighed.

"He's a councilman for the Southern Water Nation. Last I heard he was pretty high up there." I'm sure Zuko already heard that from people in town, but it felt nice that he was asking me. "I don't like to tell people, they think I'll be some 'Daddy's Girl' and run to my dad whenever I'm in trouble."

"…But you haven't talked to him in 2 years."

"I used to be part of the council in this part of the Nation. I normally dealt with foreign affairs. I did that for two years after I came back from studying abroad. My dad wanted me to take his place in the High Council one day… but I realized that it wasn't what I wanted. Even though I was good at it, I preferred the teaching or the medical field. When I quite, he stopped talking to me."

"But he still talks to Sokka? Why? Isn't Sokka on your side?"

I laugh. "Of course he's on my side, he's my brother. But, he's a high ranking officer in our military. He needs to make peace with the politicians most of the time. My dad is proud of my brother, because he's done so much for our Nation." I paused for a moment. I didn't really want to say much else. My father had a deep hatred for the Fire Nation, due to my mother's death. I knew Zuko had once been in the army. I hadn't asked mucha bout because there was a small part of me that didn t want to know what he had done, what parts of him became tainted due to the war. And maybe... What if he was part of the group that killed my mother?

Of course it was dumb and childish to think that. He would have been to young. It still sat there, though. The doubt.

"It's fine. You know, my sister is a politician, she wants to become the first president, but… I don't think it's for the right reasons. Our father…" Zuko sighed.

"You don't have to tell me. Just because I spilled about my dad, you don't have to the same, you don't owe anything."

"No… I trust you. I mean, we haven't known each other for a very long time, but I can tell you are probably one of the strongest most trustworthy person I will ever meet." That made me blush. I also suddenly felt guilty for not saying more about my father. I knew his Uncle was a warrior, there was no doubt, so I knew he must have had a high status in the war at least. "Just like you said… I don't like to tell people about my family mostly because I will immediately be judged."

"Ok…?"

"My father was Fire Lord Ozai."

It took a lot to not freak out about that. Zuko and I had stopped walking by then-I hadn't even realized until that moment. "I'm sorry." Was all I could say.

His serious expression softened into a confused glance. "For what?"

"I don't want to judge you, I really don't. Bit, Zuko, your father killed my mother." His eyes widened. "When I was young, When the war was at its peek, my village was miniscule, this industrialization happened much later on. And... I was actually the only waterbender here. The fire nation came and attacked us, knowing we had little protection and we were right next to the water. The order was to kill the last waterbender they had record of. In order to save me... my mom gave me up to them. I saw him, Ozai. He set my mother on fire in front of my family." Zuko sucked in a breath. I couldn't look at him. He had no idea what I had gone through. We stood there in silence, thoughts racing through my mind. Finally I sighed. I looklooked up t him and touched the scar on his face. "This is from him, isn't it?" Zuko only nodded. I gave a small smile, which surprised Zuko. my next words seemed to surprise us both.

"No one should be judged by their parents. I can tell you are a wonderful person, and those who judge you for your father… they simply don't understand. I'm also sorry for the death of your mother and father. I… saw the pictures of their execution."

He didn't know how to respond at first, if he should have at all. I don't think he expected the sudden change in my voice. I didn't either, but I knew I was right in not being angry at him. He didn't kill my mother, Oxai did. But there was something else in me that felt guilty, something I hoped I'd never have to tell him. It was another reason I was able to forgive, the secret that gnawed at me, and the fact that I had moved on a long time ago. "Yeah, a lot of people did. I never… I never really cried much over their deaths. Well, not for my father. He was a cruel man. The way the press portrayed him after the execution was mostly correct. I just… I don't know. It's still such a hard thing to process." Zuko laughed, seeming to be laughing at some thought he just said. It was bitter and rough, something I understood too well. "I was a prince, can you believe that? And all of a sudden, the war was over, I was no longer a high ranking soldier, but working in a tea shop. It was such a sudden change."

I grabbed his hand, seeing the tears start to form in his eyes. "Zuko, change is something we all have to face. Even if it comes at us hard, you can't let it control you. Look at me."

Zuko had actually started crying. Luckily, the street we were on didn't have anyone walking on it, or else that would be embarrassing for him. "You are your own person; no one can change that. Soldier, prince, tea maker, you are _you._ And everyone in this town will love you for that, no matter what your past is." It was a small lie I was willing to use to make him feel better. It might take a really long time for people here to accept someone from the royal palace in general, but the son of Ozai himself? I'm not actually sure how they would react. I had totally forgotten he had kids, if I was honest.

He gripped my gloved hand tighter and then pulled me in and I accepted the hug. I wrapped my hands around him and he put his face at the fur of my hood near my neck. I could hear him sniffling and one of his tears hit my cheek. I brought my hand up and touched his hair, stroking it soothingly.

After a minute or two, Zuko backed away. "I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't mean to… We were talking about your family and I… I didn't mean to cry like that." He scratched his head. "Ugh, that was so uncool." I laughed at that and his face reddened. "Um, sorry for unloading all of that on you. I know we've only known each other for a little while I just…"

I shook my head. "Zuko, it's fine, I'm glad you told me." I brought my hand to his again. "And I hope we continue to get to know each other more." He smiled at that and wiped his nose off on his sleeve.

"Thanks Katara."

After that, it was another 15 minute walk to the Red Dragon, and when we walked in, the store was packed and hectic and the 'new employee' had gotten lost within the crowd.

"Uncle!" Zuko yelled as he opened up the back door to the kitchen.

"Zuko! Katara! I'm so happy to see you. Katara, have you ever been a waitress before?"

Thoughts of Uncle being the man who couldnt take down Ba Sing Se vanished as soon as I saw his chubby smile. I grabbed an apron I saw hanging up and tied it around myself. "I'm way ahead of you, Uncle." He laughed and had this happy glint in his eye. Zuko tried to protest, but I left to go wait tables before he could say much more. He ended up staying in the kitchen to help his Uncle cook and make tea.

"Katara! Are you working here now?"

"Oh, no, I'm just helping since it's gotten so packed."

"Wow, that's so nice of you. Maybe I should come have you help me with my business. You know we would love to take you in, it's great pay."

"Ha ha, very funny. You've tried to pull that one on me before. You know I'm very happy where I am."

"Katara! What are you doing waiting tables?"

"Oh, you know, just helping out a friend in need."

"Of course you are. It's too bad I didn't bring back Ki with me. She would've been so excited to see you."

"I'm sure she'll tell me about how jealous she is of you on Monday." We laughed.

"Katara! I didn't know you could wait tables."

"I learned a few tricks up my sleeve when I was studying."

"Katara!"

"Katara!"

Everyone was calling for me, and I was able to handle it smoothly. The other employee was a college student who was visiting for the winter and wanted some extra cash. He had been overwhelmed by the rush and was happy to see I had it practically covered.

When the madness died down, I patted him on the shoulder. "What's your name?"

"Pako."

"Really? I have a family friend named Pako."

"Cool."

"Well, Pako, you did a fine job it being your first time waiting and all."

"I thought only the Uncle's nephew worked here."

"Oh, yeah, I don't work here. I'm just a friend of them. I saw you needed help and thought I'd but in."

"Thank you so much!" He jumped up and hugged me. "You are my savior." I just laughed at him. Soon enough, Zuko came out.

"Katara, you can leave if you want. The rush is over. I can pay you back for what you've done…"

I waved my hand at him. "You guys don't owe me anything. Well, I'll be on my way. Sokka needs me to go cook that slug fish for him." Zuko laughed.

I waved to Uncle who was watching through the small window from the kitchen. He waved back happily. "Bye, Pako."

I walked outside with my huge coat and jogged back to my apartment. It was dark by the time I had gotten there and Sokka still wasn't back. If he went to the city, he had probably gotten a ride from someone or took a taxi. He should be on his way back soon, so I started to cook the fish.

Sokka had prepared it in perfection. All I really had to do was cook it. I told Sokka he should just do it himself, but he demanded I do it, saying that it always tasted better when I did it. I think part of it was his need to want to fix my eating habits, or lack thereof. I pulled out a fork and took a bit of the cooked fish. Sokka suddenly opened the door as I did so and I froze with the fork in my mouth. Sokka's face widened a d he laughed with joy. I never thought me eating some of his favorite fish would make him so happy.

"Are you going to eat with me?" He asked.

I looked down at the fish and then at Sokka, slipping the fork out of my mouth and chewing on the fish. It was delicious. Hesitantly, I nodded. I looked down at my stomach and realized I had lost a dog ificant amount of weight since I last checked myself. I took note of weighing myself later on. As much as I hated looking at the number, it was something I needed to do. Sokka jumped with joy and set the table himself. I only ate a small portion, but I ate.

Boys are so weird sometimes.


	7. Chapter 7

**Sup my peeps. Hope you dig the chapter**

Chapter 7: 2 Month Jump

ZPOV

These past 2 months have been amazing.

And it's not only because I'm still with Katara-and yes, we made it official- but also because I was really getting the hang of living here. Katara promised she wouldn't go telling everyone about my family history. I hated she had to keep secrets for me, but she made sure I knew she had no trouble with it. Both of us fully aware that people wouldn't be so accepting if they really knew. I had a sinking feeling Katara has had to keep her own fair share of secrets, but again it was a feeling I ignored, and decided to deal with it another time.

We had to close the shop for 2 weeks during the heaviest snow. I always wondered just how strong the phone towers and the electrical towers were because we never had a power outage and I had service for most of the time. Which also meant I could text Katara during these heavy storms, even though I couldn't see her because it was practically impossible to step outside.

But the snow was no longer as heavy, and school was back in session, which meant that I was back to work. Luckily, the person we hired had a friend who was moving back here after the winter, and desperately needed a job to get back on their feet. Uncle was happy to hire him, even though we had no idea who he was or what he did or whether or not he was a murderer.

It was a Saturday and Katara had texted me asking if I could meet her at the Dojo right when the sun was going to set and that I could just stay at her place afterward.

No, we haven't… you know. But things have developed since I kissed her in her room that first time. She does let me stay at her place from time to time, especially because it gets so dark so quickly in this time of year.

Her brother was already gone, left to go train some more guys as a drill sergeant, promising he would bring them in a few weeks to train with Katara. Katara and I have sparred a few times, but every time I don't really think she's very serious. I've also seen her teach some of her Dojo classes. From what I've heard… I don't ever want to see her go all out.

I knocked on the door of the Dojo and no one answered. I tried to slide it open and found it was unlocked. I walked inside to see a line of candles and I openly laughed. She was a girl and yet she did such romantic things. I grimaced slughtly at the thought. Girls could do this kimd of thing,too, although I could never see Mai or Azula doimg anything like this. I kept my heavy jacket on since it seemed like the candles trailed all the way out to the back garden. When I went back there, the candles split into two lines and went up the patio poles and there were large decorated alter like structure. It was decorated with blue and green candles and flowers. I have no idea where she got real flowers because I barely ever see any plants here. And then I saw her.

She was wearing a silky top that stopped right after her breasts and exposed her stomach. Her sleeves were see through and long, but only connected at her shoulders and her wrists, which exposed her arms. Her pants were like those of a gypsy and she was wearing no shoes. There was no snow at her feet, only green grass, the snow must have been pushed away.

"Katara…"

"Ok, so sit there." She motioned to where to candles split and I sat down in front of them. She walked over to where she had a CD player sitting on the wooden patio.

Soft melodic music began to play and she stood back on her patch of grass. She took a deep breath in and out and then she started to dance.

It was breath taking, it seemed as though her soul was connected to the music. I know that might be weird coming from a guy, but there wa no other way to describe it. And then she started bending.

The water melted while she bended and it became a river floating above her head. As she moved to the music, the shape of the water changed as well as the direction it would move. It was crazy to watch. I had seen a few waterbenders incorporate their bending into their dancing, but nothing was amazing as this. Even though it was supposed to be freezing, all I could feel was warmth. I'm not sure if it was from the candles, or myself, or from Katara. I wanted to take my coat off, but I also didn't want to move from my spot, because I couldn't take my eyes off her. Suddenly, I felt the sweat being lifted off my forehead, and Katara made slow movements of her fingers and I looked up to see small balls of water now surrounded me. The candle light reflected off of them beautifuly, which made me forget that it was actually my sweat floating above me.

Sadly, the music and the dance was coming to an end. When she finished with an extravagant mist of warm water, I stood and clapped rapidly for her.

"Katara! That was absolutely amazing!"

"You think so? I mean, I messed up on some parts, and I need to work on my-"

"Katara, that was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."

She sighed, her shoulders visibly relaxing, "Thanks."

"I'm doing a performance at the school to promote a dance group I was thinking of starting. I want girls and boys to perform and include waterbending in their dance for the Spring Festival we have every year. I have some friends who are doing the music and stuff, but I'm practicing."

She walked towards me and hugged me. "You really think I did good? Oh, and hows the outfit? I borrowed this from Nala because she was a dancer in college."

"You look absolutely stunning. I almost died when I first saw you."

She laughed. "Sure, whatever. I'm too old for this, huh?"

I shook my head. "No way. You don't look a day over 15."

She laughed again. Agni, I love her laugh. "That would make you a petophile." I choked at that. "I'm just kidding!" She looked up at me and pecked me on the lips. "C'mon, I'll grab my coat and we can start heading back to my place. I'm making seal tonight."

"Yum." I said.

She used droplets of water to put out the candles as we walked inside and she locked the back door before putting on some heavy snow pants and coat and we walked out of the front to head to her place.

"Katara." We heard and I felt Katara's hand tense in mine suddenly. She ripped her hand out of mine and had a water whip in a defensive position immediately. I didn't let out any fire, but I was sure ready, because I had never seen Katara this tense before.

There was a man with a piece of straw in his mouth, who knows where the heck he got it. He had shaggy brown hair and was waiting outside. When I looked at Katara, she kept her defensive look, and I think I almost saw a flash of fear in her eyes. I dismissed it though, because I could never see Katara really afraid of anything.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"What? You don't miss me?"

" _Get out of here before I stab you with an icicle."_ I don't think I've ever heard so much hatred in her voice. I don't think I've heard that much hatred in anyone's voice, not even my father.

And let's just say he had a lot of hatred.

"C'mon… 'Tara. I thought we could… play again."

"Look, Jet, I just want to go home, can you leave us alone?"

Wait, wait, wait, wait. _Jet?!_

As in exboyfriend, Jet. As in, Jet the guy who everyone talks about, yet no one talks _about_ him, or what happened between Katara and him. I mean, I knew something happened, his name has been brought up more than a couple of times, but _this_ was Jet? Besides the creepy factor of waiting outside of the Dojo and Katara's clear hatred for him, I technically didn't have that much of a grudge against him. Katara hasn't told me about him, if anything I'm pretty sure she's avoided talking about Ex's blatantly. I wonder what exactly happened?

"Oh, Katara, is this your new boy toy? Really? I mean, I know I might have been part of the shady crowd, but a Fire Nation guy? Please."

Ok, maybe I don't like him.

Katara dropped her stance, but remained tense as she grabbed my hand and pulled me to walk away. "C'mon, Zuko, let's go."

"Oh? Are you taking him back to your bed? And here I thought you had grown out of your _slut phase._ "

I don't know what happened, but I must have yanked my hand out of Kataras and punched the guy square in the jaw. Before he could say anything else, I grabbed Kataras hand this time and pulled her in the direction of her home.

The march to her house was quiet, only the moon shined above us and I could hear our breaths and the crunch of snow under our feet. Jet didn't follow us, thank Agni, because who knows what else I would've done to him. It was strange how protective I was, I had never been like that in past relationships. I was squeezing her hand, my body heating up and I did my best to take deep breaths to calm down. Something must have sparked in me, probably because I'd never seen Katara that vulnerable before. She didn't even look that open when she was telling me about her mother.

Thankfully, Katara didn't say anything about my punch, she didn't say anything at all, which I wasn't sure whether or not to be worried about that.

We made it to her house and she opened the door for me and we took off our coats. She rolled her shoulders and went into the kitchen to make some tea, I silently followed her and leaned my shoulder on the fridge, watching her silently.

"Can you stop doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Stop looking at me!" She turned around and the cup shatter, tea expanding and flying into the sink. "Ugh, I'm sorry, I just… let me clean this up,"

She bent down to pick up the pieces of glass and I noticed that her hands were shaking. I bent down next to her and grabbed her hands before she could grab any glass. "Katara…"

"I know, I know, I look weak. I…" I could hear her voice started to break and her whole body was shaking.

"No, no, no, Katara, that's not it at all." I pulled her up to me and brought her to the living room where we sat down. "Katara, what's wrong, are you ok?"

She sighed heavily, refusing to look me in the eye. "I… don't really want to talk about it…" I nodded and just hugged her after that. She put her face in my shirt, refusing to look up at me. She was still wearing the outfit she danced in and her hair was still done up.

"Do you want to… change? I mean, I don't know how comfortable that outfit is…"

She nodded in my chest before getting up and then going into her room to change. When she opened the door she was in pajamas and motioned for me to come into the room. I did so and we lied in her bed silently. Her hair was down in long waves and it circled us on the pillow. She snuggled her face into my chest and I did my best to wrap my entire being around her protectively. I was honestly exhausted, but didn't want to fall asleep first, I didn't want her to be alone and awake for her own thoughts. It was dark in the room, but the moon was shining through some curtains and I looked down to see something I hadn't noticed before.

Katara was on her sode, while snuggled with me, and she almost always wore pajama pants, it seemed normal since its always cold, but to ight she had shorts. We may have gotten intimate. But never had I taken her pants off, I almost did once, but she was uncomfortable with it and I told her we wouldn't do anything until she told me. Her shorts were riding up and I had a full view of her dark brow skin.

As well as the light scars that contrasted against it. I could feel my throat tightening and my hands tense.

Those were cutting scars.

I didn't know how to reacr, and with the lack of lighting I couldn't tell how long they had been there or how bad they were. Slowly, hoping she wasn't bothered by my movement, I moved my hand onto her thigh/butt. She tensed in my arms. I began to run my thumb over the scars and I sighed, feeling they weren't scabs, it hasn't happened anytime soon. She finally fell asleep, not a word of what both of us had realized.was spoken. I also drifted off into the darkness.

I woke up to see I was in the bed alone. I rubbed my eyes of the sleep and walked out of the room to see Katara making tea. She had cleaned up the mess from the night before and had a new cup for me waiting on the counter. I grabbed it, and she didn't even flinch. She grabbed some sweet bread and we sat together at her table to eat our small breakfast.

I didn't know what was wrong when we first met, because I had hardly seen her eat. I've spent entire days with her and she won't eat anything, except maybe some.craclers with tea. Seal jerky seemed like her only nutrient. The first time I saw her with her shirt off, I was surprised at how thin she was. She was toned, no doubt, but her stomach seemed sunken in

Again, I had no idea how to address ot, so like a coward, I shied away from the topic. However, without realozong, she had begun to eat more. It was a slow process, but I could tell she was much happier, and not as tired. The scars was another worry, but it was something I could help her deal with, whenever she was ready to talk about it.

It was a comfortable silence until Katara started talking.

"I'm… sorry about yesterday. Jet… he… he's a part of my past I'd rather forget." I nodded. I know what it's like to want to forget. "I… I'm willing to tell you about what happened if you want. Everything."

I reached my hand across the table to hold hers. "Katara, you can tell me whenever you're ready to tell me." And I was being completely honest about that. I… don't know what it was that she had gone through.

"No, Zuko, you're going to find out anyway, but I'd rather you hear it from me." I nodded and waited for her to continue. "When I… came back from traveling, I was about 23 years old. I was supposed to spend only 6 months full time to finish my schooling, but my father thought it was best to have me assisting the councik right away. I onviously showed I eouldnt be jooning the mimitary anytime soon, so it made sense he was planning on me being a political leader. I was never officialky part od ths counil, I was first an intern, which turned into an advisor role with a lot of power, so I went part time for about a year.

"I had met Jet when I was in highschool, I grew up in this town and it's hard to date someone here. Once one person knows, everyone knows, and if you split up they make a huge deal about it. I realized when I finished highschool before he did that I didn't really want to be with him anymore, so I thought it was good I left. You know, it was the best excuse to break up." As she said ththat, I couldn't help but remember my own reasons for breaking up with Mai. "Besides, we were teenagers, we obviously weren't planning to stay together forever and get married or anything. We had completely different personalities and tastes and…" She sighed again. "Sorry, I'm getting off track.

"My dad really likes Jet. When I came back, Jet was practically under his wing and was doing everything he wanted. When I came back, my dad really pushed for me to get back together with Jet. I wasn't really interested, but I thought I'd date him just for the image, so my father would be happy, you know?" I nodded. "I dated him for two years. And at first, it was fine. He didn't really expect much from me except to make sure I put in a good word to my father. But soon enough… things started to get worse."

I saw her hand starting to shake again and she refused to look at me.

"I… We were spending the night at each other's places regularly. At first, nothing happened, we would normally just do it because we would be staying up late working on the port and dealing with paperwork the Central Council gave us. But one night he… made a move on me. I mean, it wasn't that big of a deal. We were technically dating…

"But things kept getting worse. We started to argue, once we became something of a real couple. And he…" She didn't have to say it for me to know what she was implying, and my body burned with rage. I reached out for her and but she pulled away. I didn't know how to react, and she continued. "He hit me, only a few times though, nothing too bad. I mean, it's kind of normal here. Children are spanked and stuff when they're punished so… it didn't bother me too much. He hadn't gone too far, and I didn't want to make a big deal about it." I really wanted to say something, to tell her how wrong she was, how wrong it was for him to hit her. I flashed back to my own mother, everything she had to endure because of the brutality of my father. Her death was because she was lenient with him, because she let him trample.her like garbage. I loved her so much, but the one thing that always made me.dissapointed was the fact my mom was weak to my father. I never understood why, seeing Katara like this, a similar image popped into my head. To see such strong and powerful women be out down because of the stupidity of men was just outrageous.

"But finally he… he did some stuff to me… he… forced…" Her voice cracked and I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't know if I was trying to push away the though of Katara being abused, or to embrace me choking the life out of Jet. "He did it… more than once. Soon enough… I just couldn't handle it anymore. I decided to quit my job and start my training to be a teacher. I shook off all ties with my father and most of that part of my life, and I broke up with Jet. I… haven't told a lot of people about why I did that, except for me not wanting to do what my father wanted.

"I haven't seen Jet in 2 years. I had heard that he was coming back I just thought I'd be able to avoid him. I'm sorry you had to meet him or anything. I just… I'm sorry."

"No, Katara." I grabbed her hand, forcing it in my own. "You do not have to apologize for _anything_. You haven't done anything wrong."

"But… I understand if you don't want to…" She still refused to look at me.

"Wait, did you think I'd break up with you because of this? Why?" I would never do that.

"I mean, I don't know I just thought maybe you wouldn't want someone… like me…" I stood up and hugged her close to me.

"Katara, you have nothing to worry about, I'm not going anywhere." Suddenly, there was a hard knock on the door.

Katara sighed and checked her phone that was on the table next to her and she sighed again and rubbed her brow. "Dammit." She pushed out of my arms and rubbed her eyes off before going to the door.

"Dammit Katara, open the-" I heard from the other side of the door and they were cut off by the door swinging open. "Oh, there you are! I heard Jet was back and I thought I'd-" Nala then saw me and her mouth turned into the shape of an O. "You know what? I can come back-"

"Nala, get your butt in here and have some tea. You didn't interrupt anything." I was astonished by the smile that was now portrayed on her face. I could see she was genuinely happy that her friend came to check up on her, but her eyes looked tired, and her pure happiness was slightly forced. I was reminded when I first mst Nala, and the wonderous carefree attitude that Katara and her shared. That aura diminished, and I could tell Nala barely took notice. Of course, she had no idea we already had an encounter with Jet. Oblivious to the slightly pained face her friend showed, Nala came inside.

"Hey, Zuko. Sorry to barge in and all."

"No, it's fine." I said and scratched my head. Katara giggled at that and it made me blush a little bit. The serious atmosphere had dissipated and replaced with something more light hearted.

Nala had come in with a paper bag (for some reason not many stores used plastic bag). She set it on the table I was now sitting at and took out some cookies. "I thought I'd bring some seaweed cookies."

Katara laughed. "Nala, you don't have to do that."

"Oh, Katara, we are like sisters, you know I'll always be here for you." They hugged and I just kind of sat there awkwardly. "So um… does Zuko know?" Nala tried to whisper, but I could obviously hear.

"Yes, I actually just finished telling him a little about it before you got here."

"Oh! Sorry, don't mean to interrupt that conversation."

"You know you're welcome anytime."

"Oh, ok, good, because-" Suddenly there was another knock on the door. Nala looked sheepish. "I um, may have invited company."

Katara rolled her eyes and walked to open the door. I saw the slightly forced, and yet still genuine smile she gave as Kurik and Esrick walked in. Kurik was the first to throw his arms around her and she laughed as he seemed to lean all of his weight on her.

"Oh, don't pout like that, you know he's harmless." Nala whispered and nudged me with her elbow.

"I wasn't pouting…"

"Mhm, sure." I started to roll my eyes and stopped myself. Katara has been rubbing off on me too much.

Esrick saw me and nodded at me and hugged Katara once Kurik was peeled off of her. Esrick held up a bag and smiled, "I brought some icenut bread."

Katara's eyes actually brightened, which made me smile. "No way! You shouldn't have…"

"It's your favorite, nothing less. Besides, I picked up the ingredients while Kurik made it all through the night." Katara gave both of them a big hug again.

"You guys are the best."

They laughed and Nala poured them some tea. I thought I'd let them have some time to hang out, so I went into Kataras room to change out of my pajamas. I was going into sweats, which honestly wasn't that different from my pajamas, but it made me more comfortable. I still couldn't quite get used to how everyone was ok with lounging around in their undergarments while guests were over.

When I walked out they were all sitting on the couch laughing. There was only enough room for three people on the sofa so Kurik was on the floor. I sat down on the floor as well and sipped on the rest of my tea, staying silent for a while.

"So, Zuko, how's it feels to be here?"

I was surprised to suddenly be included in the conversation, plus I hadn't been paying attention. "I'm sorry, what?"

Nala laughed. "How have you adjusted?"

"Oh, um, it's actually pretty nice. I mean, it's hard for me to get along with some people… and it's such a different atmosphere, it's taking me a bit to adjust. I'm really thankful for everything you've guys have been doing for me."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure Katara is getting you _real adjusted_ ," She said and elbowed Katara. Katara laughed and smacked her friend on the shoulder. I just scratched my head.

"Well… um, yeah. I mean, she helps me with training and stuff…" I could see that they were trying really hard not to laugh and my face started to heat up.

After a while, I checked the time and noticed that I would have to head out to the Red Dragon soon. "Hey, sorry I can't stay but I need to go to work."

"That's too bad, man, we were about to talk about some embarrassing stories of Kataras childhood." Esrick said.

"Oh shush. Zuko, do you mind buying some biter before you come by tonight?" I nodded. I didn't always spend the night, but after everything, I could hear the small plea for me to come back so we could continue to talk.

When I reached the Red Dragon, I ran upstairs to change quickly. "Uncle, I'm home."

"Glad to see you. How's Katara?"

"Not so well. Jets back in town."

I had no doubt he knew exactly who I was talking about. I had a feeling he was protective over Katara, too, considering how much she's helped keep us safe in the neighborhood, but also because he saw her as such a kind girl. His face visibly hardened and steam came out his nose. I hadn't seen him that fired up in a long time. "Think we should go welcome him back?"

I was actually pretty surprised at the animosity that was held in his voice. "Woah, Uncle Iron, I didn't think you still saw violence on the menu."

"I just don't think Lady Katara should have to deal with sum like that."

"Well Katara doesn't want us to do anything."

Iron sighed, put his chin up and began to walk down the steps. "Shame."


	8. Chapter 8

**edited**

Chapter 8: Jet

KPOV

I hadn't seen Jet for a whole two weeks. I was surprised, I thought after that night he would do his best to torment me.

Well, he didn't really have to. Everyone else did it for him. I could barely stand the sad looks and sympathetic sighs. I went to visit Gran Gran again and she told me to just kick them all in the face. Well, not exactly, but that's how I decided to interpret it.

Honestly, there were so many things going on I was doing my best to handle it all.

Not only with my personal life, but with what was going on in my Nation as well.

Elections for some of the spots on both the High Council and some City Councils are going to be held next year, and all of the ones who are running who are expecting my father's backing are planning on me to take a large role in their campaign. I refused the many phone calls I've already received from them. Rarely does anyone in my small town run for large political roles, meaning rarely was it someone I trusted or even tolerate, unless it's part of our more local Council. Although I may not be a part of that life anymore, I still receive phone calls from incompetent town council members since I left with open arms. Sometimes I regret it, since they rarely cared if I was busy or not. I've gotten a few calls here and there, mostly about the port.

But the phone call I received today was not what I was expecting.

I was in the middle of a lecture when I saw the screen on my phone light up. When I noticed it was Nuktuc, one of the council members, I stopped my lecture to take a step out.

"I'm sorry, class. Please review your textbooks while I take this call."

I stepped outside and when I accepted the call I could barely get a greeting out. "Katara! I'm so sorry but I'm going to have to ask you for a huge favor!"

"Nuktuc, what is it?" He was pretty dramatic, so I didn't worry about the tone of his voice. He was a big time actor when he was younger.

"Katara, Kaya is stepping down, and we don't have anyone we are willing to endorse to take her place."

"Look, Nuktuc, I'm sure it will be fine. There is always someone to step in."

"Well… the thing is…. _Tuc, is that Tara?_ Kaya, nows not the best time… _You haven't asked her yet?!_ I'm about to right now- Tara?"

"Kaya?"

"Yeah, ok, what Tuc is trying to say is we want you to run for the open seat."

I stayed silent for a moment. "Look, Kaya…"

"Tara, I know you want to be a teacher, and you are really good at it. My daughter loves you as a teacher in fact. She was so fascinated and disgusted by your bloodbending demonstration by the way. Ok, well, besides the point, even though you do good there, we really need you here."

"Kaya… I can't…"

"Katara, when you reach my age, you realize something, it's no longer the good of the one, it's the good of the many. The only way we can grow is if you are here." She struck a nerve with that one. "I know Jet is back, he's about to start his campaign to become an official member of the Central Council. This is why we need you here. I don't know what happened between you two, but Jet will make this city so much worse. We need you in order to do real good.

"Look, honey, I know this is tough, I know this job can be a heavy load, especially for someone like you. But think about this really hard. I'm going to announce who's going to be in the race in a week, so you have until then. Well, I mean, I'm fine with you taking longer, just know you won't have my upfront support."

"Ok, Kaya, I'll think about it. Send me whoever else is running, ok?"

"You got it honey. Sorry that Tuc was the one who was supposed to tell you. He sucks at breaking the news." Then the phone disconnected. I sighed and rubbed my shoulder slightly before walking back into the classroom to finish the lecture.

I texted Zuko to see if I could stop by the Red Dragon that night. I really needed to talk to him. He agreed and I sighed in relief. I hope he doesn't think I'm going to break up with him. I let the thought leave my mind. He should know there wasn't a good reason for me to break up with him so there shouldn't be anything to worry about.

The rest of the day was a blur, I could barely comprehend what I was saying as I was teaching. I was thinking about what Kaya said. I was grateful that the day was over, and that I wouldn't be having any lessons in the dojo.

When I arrived at the restaurant that night, Zuko saw me and put his apron up and patted his coworker on the shoulder to tell him he was taking a break.

Zuko sat down with me and I didn't even get to properly say hi before he interrupted. "Whatever I did, I'm sorry."

I busted out laughing and his face turned red. I wiped a tear from my eye and grabbed his hand. Apparently there was something to worry about. "Zuko, I'm not breaking up with you."

He sighed in relief. "Oh, thank Agni. I was really worried there for a moment."

"I can tell."

"Well, what is it you want to talk about?"

"Well… I got a phone call today and… you know how I said I used to be part of the council in a way for the city?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, one of the older members, Kaya is stepping down. I'm not too familiar with Fire Nation democracy yet, due to it being very new and they themselves are figuring out day by day, but here, once you get elected, it's considered a lifetime employment. Unless you are convicted of a crime or get impeached, you don't leave until you die, or until you step down. Most people just step down. In this case Kaya is stepping down.

"When someone steps down, they normally have a week after they announce it to announce who they plan on backing in the race. And well, she wants me to run for the position on the city Council."

Zuko soaked up the information before responding. "What do you want to do?"

"Well, she announced it yesterday, and I got the phone call today so I have less than a week to decide."

"Yeah, but, what do you want to do?"

The new guy, Kun, brought us our tea silently and walked away, noticing we were in a serious conversation. Thank you Kun.

I put my face in my hands. "I don't know." Zuko waited. "I love my job now, I really do. I feel like I'm helping the community."

"So you want to help the community."

"Well, yeah. My goal from when I was a little girl was to help make a world a better place."

"And you can't do that by being on the Council?"

"Well, I mean, no…? Are you saying I should run?"

"No, I'm saying, think about it. If your goal is to help your community, which would be better, as a politician, or as a teacher? I understand that helping the community can start early, with children. Like, if you form them into great members of society at an early age, they'll do even better as adults. I personally know that governments don't help society as much." I saw him grimace. For a second I felt bad for bring it up. He used to be a prince, no doubt having to deal with all kinds of diplomats, and witnessing the horrors of his father's tyranny up close and personal.

We actually hadn't talked too much about his father. Although we had been together for a while now, family was a touchy subject for both of us. After our encounter with Jet, family was the farthest thing from my mind, and I assume it was the same for him. I could tell he was worried, he was texting me constantly when we weren't together. In a way, I felt grateful, but was also irritated by how weak I felt due to his overprotectiveness. But now was not the time to think about this. He continued. "I know you have a great sense of justice, and I think you can do great things."

"So what you're trying to say is I should join the Council." Zuko sighed.

"I want you to do whatever it is you think is right. I mean, you left the council because you felt it was more your fathers dream then yours, right?" I nodded. "Well, is that still the case? I don't want to assume or push any bubbles, but are you sure what you're doing right now is your dream? Or is it maybe just that it's _not_ your father's dream?"

I had to really think about it. I mean, yeah, I love teaching, but is this really what I was meant to be?

"Thanks Zuko."

"No problem. Just know I'm here to support you in whatever you decide. What would you be doing on the council?"

"Working with the port again, no doubt. When new members are voted in, they reassign members to specific tasks. I've always done well with foreign policy and trading, I'd get that spot."

"So pretty much stuff you already do."

I took a sip of my tea, rolling my eyes, making him smile. "I don't do _that_ much for the council."

"You don't see what I see." He paused, but I saw the twinkle of laughter swimming in her bright golden eyes. His scar was but a side thought, something that seemed so trivial and fit him so perfectly, even though it was an unnatural burn.

The scar was another thing we didn't talk much about. After the large confession of our family history, we decided silently to take the history step by step. Just as I was given the chance to take my time telling him about Jet, I would also give him time.

"So, just sleep on it, maybe talk to your friends about it. In the end it's your life, and you can decide." I noted the silent pledge he made. He would stick by me no matter what, and I wouldn't have to face my decisions alone. I'd never felt such acceptance in any other relationship, and it surprised me that we were going on so perfectly.

"Even though you pretty much told me to join the Council." He held his arms up in exasperation and I just giggled. "I kid, I kid."

"Ok, well, is that all you wanted to talk about? Anything else?"

"Well, I was also wondering if you wanted to… come stay at my place this weekend."

Zuko's eyes widened and the tips of his ears reddened slightly as he picked up my hidden meaning. "I um… yeah, of course."

I laughed. "Ok, cool. I'll tell you about what I decide before it gets announced, ok?"

We kissed and said our goodbyes. I was really happy I was able to talk about that. Zuko gave me some really good questions to ask myself before being to quick to flat out refuse or accept.

What was it that I wanted to do, fix the world? Did it still need fixing? Of course I knew of a lot of corruption going on in both the North and the South, but I had never seen it as my place to interfere. After everything happened when I was traveling, as well as with Jet, I couldn't see myself as mentally or emotionally ready to take all of that on, but was I now? Or did I simply want to teach? Did I just want to focus on the kids, helping them grow into wonderful adults, like Zuko said?

As I walked home I thought long and hard about it. I remembered everything I had done to get where I was at. All of the studying I did, all of the training. What was it all for? What were my hardships for?

I cut my ties with the council mostly because of Jet, but was I going to let my fear of him and my shame rule me for the rest of my life?

And of course, speak of the devil, he was waiting outside my apartment building. You need a key to get inside the building, too, which is one reason why I picked to live here, especially after some… scary nights I've had in the past.

I wasn't as surprised this time, or as defensive. He didn't try anything last time, but I was still on guard. "I see you don't have your fire toy with you today."

"Jet, what do you want?" I didn't want to deal with him. He was going to be a little shit face I wanted to get over it now, instead of him loitering around my home and my Dojo for the rest of my life.

"How's the Pink Lady holding up?"

"It's fine, no thanks to you." Every few months I would receive a check in order to help pay off the property, but I sent it back every time.

"Ok, Katara, I'm sorry about last time. I just… I didn't think you would actually start dating anyone."

"Are you trying to say you thought I'd just stay single for the rest of my life."

"No, well, I thought maybe…" He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Look I-"

"Wait, hold up. You though I was going to go back to you?" I started to raise my voice. Luckily, it was a little late and there was no one on this street. "Are you an idiot? It's been 2 years! If I didn't go back to you then, what makes you think I would after all this time?"

"I know I was kinda an ass back then but I've-"

"Were you about to say you've _changed?!_ Do you have any idea what you did to me?" I could feel my blood start to boil. Whatever fear I had felt when I saw him that night at the Dojo had fizzled out into rage. "You _hurt me_. In ways that no one has ever done to me before. In ways I won't ever allow to happen to anyone I love, or me for that matter. Jet, you and I are over!"

"Oh, C'mon, Katara. You are so overdramatic. I never _really_ hurt you. You loved every time we were together!"

I was about to crush his throat where he stood if it hadn't been for the flash back.

Suddenly, I wasn't seeing Jet standing in front of me, but on top of me, with his shirt off, with he pants off. His hands on me, they _were all over me._ I felt like I was going to puke.

"Jet, get the fuck out of here before I do something I won't regret."

"Whatever, bitch. Tui, I thought you'd love that I'd come back for you. After all that _begging_ you used to do. You were such a little whore. In fact, you still-"

I slammed a wall of ice into him and he slammed into the side of the building. I then picked him up with the snow he was standing on and threw him so he was all the way across the street. I didn't do anything too hard to severely injure him, but he would get some narly bruises.

I didn't look back as I marched up the stairs and ran into my apartment. I slammed the door shut, threw my snowy clothes onto the ground and ran into the bathroom. For some reason it made me feel much better, sitting in the cold bathtub, the cold smothering me, making my heart slow down. My breath, which I hadn't realized was ragged, became even, and I had this weird sense that no one in the outside world could touch me while I was here. No one could find me in the madness of my mind, enclosed in the cold walls of my bathroom. I dug my nails into my arms and squeezed my eyes, trying to force the horrible memories out of my mind. Suddenly, old memories of other things I did in my bathtub came to mind. I looked at the cabinet that was over my sink, and the small hidden compartment that no one knew about that held sharp edges razors. I hadn't opened that thing in a long time, and with everything going on, it tempted me.

I didn't call anyone. I couldn't. I could barely stop digging my nails into my arms. And even if I did, who would I call? Nala and them don't even know everything. I've honestly told Zuko more than I've told Nala, which may seem weird, but I knew they would look at me different, treat me different. I couldn't call Zuko because… well I just couldn't call Zuko to talk about my ex who hurt me a lot in my past. I didn't want to put him through that. I know he doesn't show it, but the death of his parents really weighs down on him and his uncle. I don't need to go call because of some stupid encounter I had with Jet. But the ugly thoughts of me bleeding came to mind again. I kept telling myself it wasn't right, that it wasn't a healthy way to fix my problems. Neither was starving myself, and I had only recently figured that out.

I finally ended the war inside my mind and pulled out my phone in my pocket. My sight was blurry and I didn't actually know who I clicked on when I made the call. I sighed in content when it was Zukos soothing voice.

"Katara? What's up?" For a second I couldn't speak, which cause worry to lace the time in his voice. "Katara? Are you ok?"

"Zuko?" I hated how my voice quivered. I wasn't crying, but that's what my voice sounded like.

"Woah, are you okay? What happened?"

"Jet... he..."

"Jet? What did he do? Katara where are you?"

"No... I'm home."

"I'll be over in 5 minutes."

I didn't say much after that. The phone beeped and I dropped it in the tub with me. I tucked my knees in between my arms a d rocked myself as I continued to chant that cutting wasn't the right choice. I hated when I get like this. I hadn't gotten this bad since I was actually with Jet. I didn't hear the door opening. I was suddenly happy I gave Zuko a key.

He burst into the bathroom, no doubt having already slammed open the door to the rooms in search of me. He saw me, all of me in that moment. Rage turned into sadness. Without a word, he crawled into the tub with me, holding me.

Once one evil thought comes to mimd, they all do, and it made me feel so overwhelmed to have all of that floflooding in. I was drowning in the bathtub.

I cried that night. I cried so hard, I felt like my cries echoed off the walls, bouncing back at me, attacking me, which only made me cry more. My tears made a puddle on my pillow.

When I woke up with Zukos arms around me. I got up without waking him amd looked in my mirror and saw that the small amount of mascara I had worn was all over my face and staining my pillow case. The tears made my eyes crusty and my face felt dirty. My alarm was screaming at me and my head began to pound. Zuko woke up with the alarm, and I could see he was filled with worry when he realized I wasn't there.

Everything rushed at me all of a sudden, everything that was thrown at me yesterday. Suddenly, I made my mind up.

"Zuko, I've made my decision." All talk would have to wait later. I wasn't sure if I was ready to reveal everything that haunted me last night, but there was one thing I needed to do.

I showered and changed and redid my makeup and dressed up slightly. I emailed the principal to see if I could talk to her that morning. Zuko hugged me and kissed me, telling me he would always be there for me before I left. I walked the hour and a half distance in the darkness to the school, which made me wonder how Zuko got to my house so fast, something I'd have to ask him later. There was a bus that went to the school, but the darkness was more welcoming then the crowded judgemental bus filled with schoolchildren. Grangran said I needed a car, but for some reason I was never really interested in one. I felt that if I really needed to get anywhere, I could use my own two feet to move forward, nothing else could get me there.

I walked into the office of the school and was greeted by our principle, Kana. She had the same name as my grangran, which she loved to point out to me, to get me to listen to her more and see her more as an authority figure. The fact was I've worked under much wiser women than she, I could never really take her that serious, plus she was more like a grandmother than an administrator. She was always betting with Grangran. "So, Master Katara, how are you? Why did you want to meet with me?"

"Kana, I would like to quit." She had been sipping on her coffee and it made her choke. I laughed and handed her a napkin to clean up what she spilt onto her desk.

"May I ask why?" She asked as she cleaned the spilt coffee.

"I'm going to run for the Council."

"What? Really? I thought you quit?"

"Yeah, I did, but… something is telling me I need to take this opportunity."

Kana gave me a long look, not saying anything for a while. I sat there under her gaze, showing the confidence I had on my face. "You know; I knew you wouldn't be here for very long…"

That surprised me. "Really?"

"Katara, you may be a bit wiser than me, and you've seen things I probably never want to see in my lifetime, or my childrens lifetime, but I'm not stupid. You were meant for so much more than to be confined within this small highschool, within this small town. Gran gran even said she knew you wouldn't be here for very long. I was surpised you stayed for as long as you did. I lost 3 silver pieces because of that, you know."

I laughed. "You should know better than to make a bet with Grangran."

"Well, yes, but besides that, I'm happy for you Katara. I'm sure you will realize that even the Council is not enough for you, I know you will do some amazing things for the future."

"Thank you Kana. I hope you the best. If you ever need a substitute, you know you can call me up."

"I'm sure no one wants you as a sub, you're too good as a teacher." She paused and looked down at her coffee. "You really are wonderful instructor. Are you keeping the Dojo running?"

"Yeah, the Painted Lady will always be one of my first priorities, and I'll still let kids come to do their PE credits."

"You know I'm not worried about that. Everyone will miss you."

"I'm sorry I have to go."

"Old news, girl. You do what you need to do to make this a better Nation. I expect to hear how you are doing from time to time. Maybe you can come and do some guest speaking."

"I would love that."

"Ok, well, do you have your letter?" I handed it to her. "You are always so prepared. You officially don't work here in a month. If you can help us find a replacement, that would be nice. The school year is almost out, so maybe some new college students coming home will be interested."

"I'm sure some other teachers will pick up the slack. Again, if you ever need me, I can come in. The subjects I teach are very… well, you have to have a real interest in that line of field."

Kana laughed. "Katara, you aren't the only waterbending researcher in the world." I shrugged my shoulders. "Ok, well, we will have a goodbye party at the end of the month, no objections."

I laughed and nodded my head. "I'm going to miss you Kana."

We hugged and I left her office. The attendance lady saw me first. "Oh, Katara, why'd you need to talk with Ms. Kana?"

"Oh, umm… well, I'm resigning."

Suddenly many of the office people gasped. Before I could be asked too many questions, I left the office and headed for my classroom. When I walked in, most of my students were sitting in their seats and the room became eerily quiet, all eyes drawn to me.

"Master Katara, is it true you are quitting?" I sighed. It's amazing how fast news travels in this school.

"Ok, everyone, take your seats and I'll explain everything." I think this was the fastest I've ever seen them get into their seats. "Everyone, I'm very sad to announce, but I am in fact resigning, I will be leaving after a month."

"What? Why are you leaving?"

"I'm going to be running for the opening seat on the City Council."

"Wait, weren't you on the council before? Why are you going back?"

"I don't want you to go!"

"Who's going to teach us about waterbending history?"

"Ok, ok, class. Settle down. I am going to teach today, you know. I have my own reasons for going back, but I want you to know you haven't gotten rid of me yet. I'll be coming back to check up on you every once in a while. I swear to La, if you make any trouble for the new teacher…"

"Who's going to be the new teacher?"

"We don't know yet. Ok, as I was saying, let's start the lesson."

When lunch time came around I called Kaya to tell her my decision. Of course, she already knew. She was so happy and said she would announce her support tomorrow afternoon.

After school ended I put my phone on silent, knowing that people would be calling me left and right asking for questions. I just didn't want to talk to them right now. The hustle and bustle kept me distracted from everything that happened last night, but by the end of the day I could feel the heavy weight of the world on my shoulders.

Is this really what I want? To become a politician? What Kana said really stuck with me. She believed I would go much bigger than everything, bigger than just the city council. I recalled everything I've done so far in my life, all the journeys and battles. I thought that part of me was over, I've thought that since I came home. But, maybe that wasn't true.

Of course that didn't mean the Central Council. I wouldn't be able to deal with that kind of pressure, especially if Jet ends up getting the open seat. Not to mention having to listen to my father drone on about it.

Yeah, this is what I needed to do. Thinking about Jet reassured my confidence in myself. I needed to make sure he didn't ruin our Nation. Of course he wasn't the only horrible person in power, I just happened to not like him the most due to personal reasons.

It was a Friday, and I was so thankful for that. I wasn't sure if I could handle everything I did today again. Of course I'd have to go back to work on Monday, and I had training tonight and tomorrow, but hey, you take what you can get.

After training I finally decided to look at my phone. I had a million texts from Nala and Kurik, a few from Zuko and Kaya, Esrick only sent me one text, always been a man of few words, which was great for me, sometimes I didn't really like talking. I texted everyone that I was doing fine. Specifically, telling Zuko I was ok, and that he could come over tomorrow morning since I knew he was working late tonight.

There were a few texts from others as well as missed calls, but I casted them aside. I was walking home and when I reached my door, I saw Esrick waiting. He smiled and held up a bag that most likely had some sort of sweets in it. I smiled.

I let him inside and started to make some tea. "What brings you by?"

"I heard about the open seat, and how Kaya is planning on supporting you."

"To think I only told people this morning."

"Kaya was the one who called me to tell me."

"Of course she was." Esrick is Kaya's nephew.

I handed him some tea and his mug, (yes, my friends come by so often they have their own specific mugs/tea cups) once we were settled into my apartment. "But really, what do you want to talk about?"

Esrick took a sip of his tea before answering me. "Katara, are you sure you want to do this?"

I rolled my eyes. "Esrick, you know I can make my own decisions."

"I know that more than anyone else, most likely. But, I just want you to be careful. I know you haven't told us what really went on with Jet, and even if Nala and Kurik are ok with what you said, they are just denying the fact that you're hiding something." I wasn't really sure how to answer that. "You know, a lot of us who decided to stay in this town, know each other simply because we have to know each other. We grew up with each other and there's no way we couldn't know each other." He took another sip. "Katara, I don't want us to be like that. I want you to be able to come to me with your problems. I want to be here for you when you need me."

"Esrick…"

"I'm not saying to spill everything to me right now. Just know, I'm here. You don't always have to hold everything inside." I could tell he was genuine. Out of all of my friends Esrick has always been the rock to hold everyone up.

"Esrick, I'm not some crybaby who needs to run to their friends everytime they are in trouble."

Esrick shook his head. "That's not what I'm trying to say Katara."

I was starting to get a little annoyed. Later, I realized I was annoyed because I couldn't win this argument. It shouldn't have even ended up being an argument in the first place. I knew he cared for me and was looking out for me. "Than what are you trying to say, Esrick? I'm doing this because the people of this city need me."

"Yeah, but do they? Do they really?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

I set my tea down on the coffee table next to my couch and crossed my arms. Esrick looked like he was about to back out of the conversation, and then a sudden determination crossed his face. We may have been friends for a long time, but Esrick was the only one I've never really fought with. It had made him hesitate, because no one really likes to make me angry, but after everything that's happened, I was on edge, which didn t make me think clearly about what I was saying. "Katara, everyone in this town is dependent on you. You need to let them grow, let this city grow without you. Even while you weren't on the council, the person who took your seat kept giving all of their work to you. You've been doing three times the work without any real recognition. Katara! You are letting this town walk all over you!"

"That's not true Esrick! I'm just doing what I have to in order to help. I don't think you understand how important it is that I get this seat."

"Why? Because of Jet?" The mentioning of his name made my face heat up.

"No!... Yes! That's not the whole story, ok? Can you stop fucking being up in my face about this?" I had to stand now, waving my arms and trying to control my rage bending that happens when I get worked up sometimes. "I know he's only going to screw up the system more, he's going to make this Nation so much worse. Can't you see that?" My arms started to tremble. "Esrick, Jet ruins everything, he ruins lives, he ruins homes, he ruins _everything_." I was starting to get really personal, but my emotions were like an uncontrollable whip. They kept hitting me with the memories and the pain and I couldn't stop _feeling_. "I'm a grown woman who can make up their own mind." I said, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction. "I can do whatever I want, and I don't need _you_ to come to my home and try to bribe me with sweets in order to get me to change my mind. I'm not some housewife woman like everyone else you know here!"

My breathing was uneven and Esrick was looking at me with a worried expression. "Why do you keep looking at me like that."

"Katara… you're crying." My eyes widened and I felt my cheek. I cursed as I saw the dark clouded tears on my finger. "No, you don't need to feel bad…"

"Esrick, I really don't need to deal with this right now."

"Oh, Katara. No, I didn't mean to…" He ran his hand through his dark brown hair. "What happened?"

"I… don't want to talk about it, ok?"

He had this pained expression which made me sigh and I sat back down to lay my head on his shoulder.

"Katara, you are going to have to talk about it at some point, if not with me, then maybe with your Grangran or something. You need to let it out."

I sighed. "Esrick… I…" I sighed again, knowing I couldn't escape it any longer. Sure, Zuko had been there with me, but I still hasn't talked about it. I mentioned that Jet hahad come over, but Zuko knew it wasn't just a conversation that made me act that way. When I looked at Esrick, I suddenly realized how much I had bottled me feelings, my thoughts. I had friends, a boyfriend, a _brother,_ that would always be there for me. "Jet and I weren't really dating at first, you know. I mean, we did in highschool, obviously, but when I came back it was just for show. But… soon enough it changed. Escpecially while he was staying at the apartment I was living in before. The first time… I was ok with it I guess…. I figured whatever mistress he had had broken up with him and he was lonely. Except eventually, his attitude change. One time he… saw I was texting Kurik, and he grabbed my phone and smacked me with the back of his hand, my phone still in it. I hit my side on the table and I… I couldn't get up. It had hurt so much I could barely push him off me…"

Esrick seemed to tense, but he didn't say anything. He just held me there in his arms as my tears came.

I hated Jet. I hated everything about him, everything he did. I never realized how real it had all been until I began telling the relived memories. I talked about it with Zuko, but this was different. Esrick was like a brother, and his embrace was something I desperately needed. I needed to know my friends would still love me, even though I had been so weak.

Esrick didn't leave. He stayed there with me and we fell asleep on the couch, him just holding my shaking body.

 **So I know I touch on some really rough topics in this chapter. I just want everyone to know that this kind of stuff actually happens, and if there is anyone that needs to let it out, my PM is always open. Love you guys so much and be happy!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Edited**

Chapter 9: Election Day

ZPOV

One thing about being an immigrant that kind of sucked, was the fact that I couldn't even vote for my own girlfriend.

She was going to win, anyway, anyone could tell just by turning on the TV. And it wasn't fake either. All of those wonderful things they said about her, they're all true. She's just that kind of person, so kind hearted, so breathtakingly beautiful.

OK maybe I'm getting a little overboard.

That probably has to do with the lack of sex I've had. Or the fact that Katara and I still haven't sealed the deal on that part of our relationship. I'm not saying that our relationship is only about sex, or that we haven't done _anything_. But, we've been dating for almost a year now. Like I said, I really value my relationship with Katarra, but if only we could just do a little… more. Of course everything with Jet seriously put a damper on things. I wasn't going to push her after seeing how detrimental that relationship was on her mind.

Later on we talked about how it wasn't just Jet that made her that eay. There were things she still wasn't ready to open up about, and most of them were from her travels around the world. I decided to leave it like that. Just as she accepted my past, I would accept hers, because I knew everything she went through was for her to develop into the wonderful powerful woman she is.

So, sex was something I could hold back, and not something I wanted her to worry about. She's been so stressed and busy with this upcoming election.

We still had the one other employee in the Red Dragon, and he's gotten pretty close with my Uncle and I. He's found out we were firebenders and he's still chooses to be friends with us, which I really appreciate. It gives me relief that he wouldn't be spreading around some rumors or something about us. In general, it's been fine living here. We've had a few hate crimes against us, mostly just some broken windows, but besides that it was fine. Living in the Water Nation was proving to be easier than living in the Fire Nation.

"Are you ready?" I patted Katara's shoulder in response.

"Katara, don't worry, it'll be fine."

"You know if you don't want to you don't have to-"

"Katara." I said, cutting her off. "I chose to be here, you know."

She sighed in response and rubbed at her own shoulder. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

I kissed her on the forehead and she smiled I response. "I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks."

"Ok, people, cameras are coming on soon. The votes are coming in."

We nodded and sat down next to Katara's opponents as well as their partners.

"And we are starting in 3… 2…"

"Hello Southern Water Nation, as well as the rest of the world that's watching! The polls are coming in and right now we are sitting with the 3 candidates for the open seat for the City Council. I have with me Katara and her long term boyfriend Zuko, Unko and his wife Hana, and Kala with her husband Qin." The camera focused on us for a second before the host, Bin, started asking questions.

"So, Zuko, I know you're new to the Water Nation, how did you meet Katara?"

"Oh, well, I'm not sure if there is anyone in this town who doesn't know Katara." Cue fake laughter from the audience. I've had to go on stage with Katara before, but this was still nerve-wracking. "I met her when her brother was visiting and they all came to the Red Dragon."

"Oh? Well, that's the best chance encounter, huh?"

"Of course, best thing that's ever happened to me." Que the 'Awwwwww' from the audience.

"Does your family support you?"

I tensed a bit, but Katara handled it smoothly.

"Zuko... lost both of his parents in the war, something we bond over since I also lost me mother." She stated. "His Uncle has always been very loving and supportive of both of us."

I nodded. "Yes, Uncle Iroh is practically my father, and he loves Katara, probably more than I do." That made them laugh. Katara squeezed my hand and I gave her a look of appreciation.

It was a miracle that no one dug into my past. I'm sure Katara wouldn't have won if the village knew that she was in a relationship with the former prince of the Fire Nation.

Similar questions were asked to the other candidates and I didn't pay much attention to their stories. Mostly because I didn't really care. I looked down at Katara and saw her looking softly at the others. Even if she was running against them, she was always kind, never said anything rude towards them and saw them as her friends. It was strange how the politics folded out here. I had been so used to the monarchy in the Fire Nation, that every other government system just kind of seemed weird. Even after the Fire Nation changed to be democratic, the huge and quick change was too sudden for me to really understand what was going on. Honestly, at the time, I was just happy they let me live.

"And the polls are in! Katara will be taking the new seat for the City Council!" We stood and hugged and kissed in front of the camera so the whole nation could see the excitement we felt.

We were invited to drink by our friends, and yes, I say 'our' because I've actually made some friends beside Katara's main group. Katara didn't drink much and neither did I. Katara never really drank a lot, she didn't like how it affected her and made her feel vulnerable, and I didn't drink because I was going back to Katara's home afterwards and I'd rather not have to be something she'd just have to take care of. She's had enough stress on her shoulders.

After our celebration we were walking back to her apartment hand in hand and the sun was already down. It was winter again and the days were getting shorter.

"Seriously, Katara, congratulations. I know this was a long process, but you've done your best and you finally gotten the seat!" I wrapped my arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to me and she smiled up at me, her visible breath blowing into my face which made her giggle slightly.

"Yeah, but I don't think I would have gotten through it if you hadn't been there to help me throughout." I squeezed her closer to me and my face warmed with love. And it was true, I really did love her.

We already had that moment, in case anyone was curious. I was the one to tell her I loved her first, and it took a month before she said it to me afterwards. Most nerve-wrecking month I'd ever had. It was after being together for 6 months, and I did it while we were watching a movie. It was incredibly awkward and I wanted to bang myself against a wall everyone afterwards due to the awkwardness. I'm doing a lot of waiting for Katara, but that one month was like a hurricane in my head.

We walked into her apartment and shed our heavy coats and fell onto the couch. "Want me to make some tea?" She asked and was about to push my arms off of her to stand up. I just gripped her tighter and held her to me and shook my head, making some kind of noise of disapproval which made her laugh.

My chest was to her back and we spooned on the couch. I let my nose ruffle her hair and completely wrapped my arms around her. Our legs were entangled and she rested her hands on mine. We laid in silence for a while before I brought my head up and kissed her neck.

"Zuko, that tickled." She laughed, which only egged me on to do it again. Soon enough, her giggles turned to gasps when I bit her slightly. She squirmed in my arms, rubbing my crotch which made me take in a quick breath. "Zuko… maybe we should take this to the bedroom." I just nodded and let her leave my arms. My mouth turned downward slightly at the absence of her warmth. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me up to follow her to her room. I looked over her body and brought my face to a smile, maybe tonight was finally the night.

I didn't bother closing the door behind us, there was no one else here. Unless Sokka was going to come for a surprise visit, which I hope he doesn't, we won't be interrupted. No more interviews in the home, no more paparazzi. Nothing was going to ruin this moment.

And thankfully, no one did.

Katara laid down on the bed and pulled me so I was hovering above her. I looked into her eyes for a moment before bringing my lips down to hers. Her arms wrapped around my neck and I moved my hands down her sides until I cupped her butt and moved her legs to wrap around my waist.

I hadn't done anything like this in a long time. Even though Katara and I have gone far, it's been a very very long time since I went all the way. I had lost my virginity to Mai while I was still in Fire Nation. Let me tell you, that was probably the most boring sex I've ever had. It was to the point I was avoiding intimate moments with her. Another reason I was so thankful for our breakup. Even just kissing would send me over the edge with Katara. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to hold out for much longer.

I didn't. How could I when she made those noises and was grinding her hips against mine. Honestly, I don't even remember how our clothes came off. She brought her hand down to rub my erection and I couldn't help but thrust into her hand. I brought my mouth down onto her breats and circled her nipples and then bit, making her moan at the feeling. Agni, I loved Katara.

I love her so, so much. I loved her laugh her smile, the fire that burns in her eyes. I love the way she'll flip her hair when she's angry and I love how she'd move in my hands.

And she really knew how to move.

I was about to enter her when I stopped. "Wait, do you have a….?"

She shook her head. "I don't need one."

That's all I needed to hear before I slowly made my way inside her. It's been a long time for both of us and I wasn't in any hurry. Her eyes squinted and her eyebrows came down in the only show of pain that she'd give me. I stopped after getting all the way inside and waited for her to adjust, which thankfully didn't take very long. After she nodded and kissed me, I slowly started to move my hips back and forth. Suddenly, she dug her nails into my back and murmured, " _Faster."_

Whatever sliver of control I had left in me completely snapped. My body warmed from the bending within me and I thrusted faster and fast, either kissing her, sucking on her breasts or just holding her close to me.

Not surprisingly, it didn't take long for either of us to reach our climax. Her walls squeezed around me and I made my thrusts deeper and faster until it was practically squeezed out of me.

I laid down next to her, both of us covered in sweat and I took my dick out and grabbed a tissue that was on her bed stand to wipe myself off. When I turned back I saw Katara moving her hands and suddenly a white liquid was coming out of her crotch and she bended it into the trashcan. She looked at me sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, that's why we don't need condoms."

I busted out laughing which made her face redden a little and I just grabbed her and held her to me. "I love you."

She relaxed and wrapped her arms around me and whispered back, "I love you, too."

I got up to throw my tissue away and turned the lights off before going back to the bed. She turned onto her side so we could spoon again and we stayed there in silence for a while before she spoke again. "Zuko…?"

"Mhm?" I mumbled into her hair.

"Would you… ummm… would you like to… move… Would you like to move in with me?"

I brought my head up and moved her hair to the side so I could see her face. The lights were off but her face was illuminated by the moon that shone through the window. "Are you serious?"

She nodded and then added, "Well, I understand it's a big step, but I thought, you know, we've been together for a while, and you are here all the time anyways and…"

"Katara." I said and kissed her neck. "Yes, I'd love to move in."

She smiled and turned her head to finally look me in the eyes and kissed me. "Awesome."

I kissed her nose and smiled back. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

And with that I brought my head back to the pillow and we fell into a peaceful dreamless sleep, a smile spread across my face.

" _OMYGOD MY EYES! IT BURNS!"_ Katara and I woke with a fright and I brought a flame to my hand, ready to fight whoever was in her- I mean our- home. My vision finally cleared and I saw Sokka standing there with his hands over his eyes. "Omygod you're naked. Please tell me my sister is more decent than you."

"Really, Sokka?" Katara said and yawned, stretching her arms out which made the blanket fall and her breasts where exposed. I tried my best not to let my face redden. It was obvious that being so open in her own home wasnt abnormal, Sokka was the same. I noticed how laid back everyone was at showing off skin when inside their own homes, and no matter how long I've been here, I couldnt get used to it. She got out of bed and went to the door to close it, since Sokka was just standing there frozen with his hands over his face. She slammed the door and Sokka mumbled, "I never want to see that image again." My fire was gone and I just busted out laughing.

I wasn't off when I thought that we would be interrupted by a surprise visit from her brother. Thankfully it wasn't last night. "I'm going to take shower; do you want to go first or me?" She asked.

"You can go." She grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body then left the room to go into the bathroom.

Suddenly I hear, "Omygod you ARE naked, _my eyes!_ " Which only made me laugh harder. "Shut up! I hear you laughing Zuko!"

I threw on some sweats I had here and didn't bother putting on a shirt since Katara normally didn't take long in the shower. I walked out to greet Sokka and I saw him sitting at the table in his uniform pouting. He probably had already put his luggage in the other bedroom. He looked up and saw me and forced a shudder to go through him at the sight of me. I laughed and he rolled his eyes. "You should've called." I said.

"I shouldn't have to call, it's my sister."

"Well, it's not my fault you've been scarred for life now." Sokka laughed at that.

I sat down across from him and grabbed some bread that was on the table. "So you're still with my sister, I see."

"I know you already knew that, she sends you letters almost every week."

Sokka nodded. "Yeah, I knew she was going to win the election so I thought I'd give a surprise visit. I can only stay for a week, though."

I nodded. I wasn't sure if I should tell him or if Katara wanted to tell him about me moving in. I figure it's something they would need to talk about. "It's nice of you to come, she's been really worried about you, especially since the Earth Nation has been in some turmoil."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Turmoil my ass. Some people got into a fight at Ba Sing Se and the Water Nation army didn't even need to interfere. She's such a worry wart."

"Yeah, I know, but at least she loves you. I haven't heard from my sister since I left the Fire Nation." Katara told me she hasn't told anyone about who I am or who my father was, including Sokka. It was my choice, which I really appreciated. I knew someone was bound to find out, especially since I've been on TV so much, but I wanted to be selfish and keep this to myself for now.

"Really? If Katara never wrote to me while she was traveling, I'd have a heart attack or something."

"Hahaha, yeah. I know."

Sokka's face became serious and we stayed silent for a moment, and all we could hear was the shower running. "Ok, I'm going to be serious with you, Zuko, what are you planning with my sister?"

"What… do you mean?"

Sokka sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "You guys have been together for a really long time. I'm asking if you plan on asking her for her hand in marriage."

I stopped chewing on the bread and stared at him. "Uhhh…"

"C'mon, you can't tell me you haven't thought about it."

"Well, yeah, I thought about it, but I'm not sure if she is ready for that kind of commitment."

"Look, you're probably thinking about her issue with Jet, but honestly, she's moved past most of that, and I think, I think she really loves you. She hasn't opened herself to someone so much before. It's up to you guys, obviously but… just know that… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd be ok if you proposed to her."

I sat there in silence for a while and then Katara came out of the bathroom. "Zuko? You can use the shower now." I didn't say anything and grabbed a towel and walked into the shower.

Sokka just gave me his blessing and I didn't even ask for it.

What just happened?!

 **OK well, hope you guys like the chapter. I know it's not as long as the last one, but I hope you like the development I gave. Next one won't be such a time gap.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Will You Marry Me?

KPOV

I've been in the seat for a little over a month, and I realize why I never really missed it. Many of the people on the Council were older and I had a very hard time negotiating terms with them, mostly because I was one of the youngest of the seat. Yet, these were the same people calling me in the middle of the night begging me to help. One thing I hated about politicians, they were never really honest.

I was at the port when I got the call. I was supervising the exchange between us and the Earth Nation. We were sending some penguin seals for their vegetables. I felt my phone vibrating and when I checked the ID it was the home my GranGran stayed at. I told my assistant that I had to take a call and started to walk away from the trading center and answered the phone.

"Zoe? What's up?"

"Katara… It's GranGran." I froze where I stood. Her tone was sad, I almost didn't have the heart to ask the next question.

"What happened?"

"She's… she's not dead, but… she's only a few moments away… I…"

"I'll be there as soon as I can." I ran back to where my assistant was. "I need you to stay here and keep watch over this. If anything happens call me and I'll come back, but I need to go right now." She didn't look happy, they never were. I didn't care, though. My GranGran was dying, nothing mattered.

I was sprinting as hard as I could. My stuff was still at the part so it was easier, but I wasn't wearing the right clothes, and I hadn't worked out in a while, what with the Council always keeping me busy. As I ran I pulled out my phone to call Zuko, he was most likely working right now, but I knew he'd want to know. "Katara? What's up?" He asked.

Zuko had completely moved in. The place was a bit small for all of our stuff, and we talked about getting a new place, but we agreed that it would be best for me to be completely settled into my new job before we could get a permanent place.

The idea of the commitment had frightened me. I wasn't really sure what I was thinking when I brought up us living together, I didn't think he would actually agree. That wasn't entirely true, I knew he would. Part of it was that I was worried that with this life, the people I love most would be in damger. I had been digging into some places no one wanted me in as soon as I got the seat. For all I kmow, someone could try to use Zuko against me. I really did love him, and I loved him being near me. With us living together, we've grown closer, rather than father. I've had a few nights that would consume me with nightmares, and each time he was there, holding me, stroking my hair as I cried into his shirt. It made me feel so much better now that I wasn't alone. He himself would come to me about his terrors of having to watch the death of his mother, and the abuse of his father.

I remember the night he told me about his scar.

 _"Katara, you should know how I got this scar." I had always been curious, but he was always willing to wait for me, and I would do the same for him._

 _"You know you don't have to-"_

 _"No, I do."_

 _We were sitting on the couch eating some snack while watching TV. We both decided I'd avoid work for at least one day a month and dedicate it to just us. Sometimes even going out with friends. Tonight was one of those nights. I waited patiently for him to continue._

 _"I was only 14 when it happened." He squeezed my side and I tucked myself into him, making sure my arms enclosed him. I didn't want him to feel alone. "I finally convinced him to let me sit in on a meeting. It was about troops and advancing the war. I honestly had no interest I the war. I did everything I could to avoid it until he forced me to join the military." He took a deep breath, most likely trying to collect his thoughts. He grimaced, sadness and anger battling in his eyes and I kissed his cheek, the edge of his scar. I saw him relax with my touch, making me smile a bit. "I spoke out of turn. He was going to sacrifice soldiers lives. Hundreds of them. All for tthe sake of weakening the forces in the Earth Nation. I thought it was horrible, so I spoke up for the soldiers. My father said that I was so disrespectful he challenged me to an Agni Ki. I couldn't fight him, he's my_ father!

 _"In order to teach me a lesson, and make am example of me, he set fire to my face. He told me I was barely even his son anymore, and demanded I train to fight in the military as soon as I came of age."_

 _His arm was digging into my sode, but I said nothing, knowing he must be holding back a lot. I could feel his body heat up at the recollection of his fight and I soothingly rubbed his arm._

I was brought back to reality when Zuko asked me what was going on once more.

"It's GranGran."

"I'll be over there as soon as I can."

"You'll probably beat me, I'm running from the shore right now."

He only grunted a response and hung up the phone. Next I needed to call my friends. "Nala?"

"Katara! What's up? You normally don't call me during the-"

"It's GranGran. She's almost-"

"No problem, I'll be over there in a little bit."

Next was Kurik and Esrick. They were the only people I'd want with me. It may be insensitive to not want to be alone with her, but I knew she'd understand. She never wanted me alone.

I finally got there and Nala and Zuko were already there in the waiting room. Zoe, the woman in charge of my GranGran was waiting as well, tears in her eyes. She saw me and quickly ushered me into the room, making Zuko and Nala wait outside.

I looked at my GranGran, her old wrinklinig face was sunken in and her skin had gone lighter with the lack of sun. She was so small, so thin, it made me wonder how anyone could ever have been intimidated by her.

I walked to the side of her bed, tears already forming in my eyes. At least I wasn't too late. She opened her eyes and smiled when she saw me. "Katara, come here." I grabbed her hand and laid my head on her stomach as I started to cry. "There there." She said and patted my head with her other hand. I turned to face her and saw there were tears in her eyes as well. "It is my time, child." I only nodded. "You are a strong, independent woman, and don't let anyone take that away from you. I know you have the knowledge and power to do great good, make sure no one gets that power, because we don't want another war, now do we?" I nodded again. "Promise me you'll do good."

"I promise."

"I know. Katara, you were never meant to stay here with this small town. The world can't hold your curiosity, your strength has no borders. I will always be watching over you." I cried harder, not caring if the others heard me.

"I love you GranGran."

"I love you, too. Tell your brother that I love him as well. I'm not angry he couldn't be here, I understand." I nodded. That's what Gran was, understanding. That's what she's always been. "Now, let me say goodbye to your friends."

I opened the door and Esrick and Kurik had finally shown. I let them all into the room, they hugged my Gran and all of them were crying, almost as hard as me. Finally, Zuko went to hug her.

Although Zuko only knew her for a little over a year, I knew they had grown a special bond. I'm not sure how it formed, but soon enough Zuko was making visits without me, spending time with her and talking with her about who knows what.

"Zuko, you have much strength in you, and I know you feel like you must hide it, but one day it will be pushed out of you. Don't be afraid of the future. You will always be apart of my family, you are apart of my home."

Rarely have I ever seen Zuko cry. I could probably count the number of times he's cried on my hands, but I saw that tear slide down his cheak as he gripped her hand.

Finally, with all of us the room, her grip loosened on Zuko's hand, her eyes slid down and her chest stopped moving. We all cried.

That night I ignored all of my phone calls, the Council could wait. My friends and I were in my apartment, eating and drinking and crying. They were hugging me, helping me feel better, even if they felt like crap themselves.

After a few hours, it was dark and they finally left to go home. Without looking at it, I plugged my phone in and waited for Zuko to get out of the shower.

He dressed and got into bed with me and handed me his phone. "I will be here while you make the call." He said and wrapped his arm around me as I made the international call.

"Hello, this is the Kiyoshi base, may I have your ID clearance?" I gave her my number with a shaky voice and she transferred me to the Water Nation sector.

"Hello, this is General Unilock, what is the purpose for your call?"

"I'd like to speak to Sokka."

"Katara?"

"Yes, I'd like to speak to my brother."

"Katara, you know we don't allow-"

"GranGran is dead."

He stayed quiet and sighed. "I'm sorry, I'll wake him."

Tears fell down my cheak again as I waited for Sokka to pick up the phone. "Katara? What happened? Are you Ok? Did something happen to-"

"Sokka, GranGran passed away today."

He stopped whatever he was going to say, a small choking sound came across the phone. "…What?"

"She passed away today. She wanted me to tell you she understood why you couldn't be there, that she's not angry, and that she loves you."

I could only hear his breath, and I could only imagine the devastation on his face. His breath was uneven and then I heard his sobs. "Sokka…"

"Thank-thank you for telling me. I-I-I need to go back to, uhh, bed. I have a long day tomorrow." I nodded, and then realized he couldn't see me.

"Ok, I love you Sokka."

"I love you, too, Katara."

And then the phone beeped, signaling the end of the call. Zuko hugged me and we fell asleep like that.

Gran's death hit me pretty hard. I worked form home for a week, not wanting to show my weakened face to anyone on the Council.

Finally, I left the house, needing to teach a class in the Dojo. It was nice to be out of the house, talking with my students. I had a table with a picture of my Gran and the students would come in with flowers or candles to set them on the table or around it. It made me happy to see how many people really cared about her.

Working out really brought up my mood, and Zuko invited me to eat at the Red Dragon that night. I walked to the Red Dragon and was welcomed by the other employee. Uncle came out to hug me and wish me well before Zuko came back out to yell at him to get back to work. Now that Zuko and Uncle Iroh were a part of the towns family, the restaurant/teahouse was always packed.

Zuko and I sat and we ate and we chatted.

"It's good to see you out and doing well."

"Yeah, I realized me at home was just making it worse. A lot of the students brought flowers today, and that made me feel a lot better."

He nodded and we finished up to leave the restaurant. The days were getting longer and we no longer needed as many layers, which was nice.

As we walked, Zuko seemed to be restless. He was holding my hand and I could feel his warm body. Finally, I stopped and asked him what was wrong.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?"

He sighed. "I'm actually really nervous."

That confused me. "Nervous?"

He put his hand in his pocket and then he went on one knee. He was still holding my hand and I stood there, frozen, not really understanding what was going on. My other hand instinctively went for my necklace, the one given to me by my mother before she died, only to realize I had taken it off, and didn't bother to put it back on this morning because I had to work out, and I didn't want it to get dirty.

He pulled out a long box, which made me wonder how big his pockets were. He let go of my hand to open the box and inside was a necklace, similar to the one my mother gave me, the one my Gran was given. Except the string was red, and the stone was a volcanic one, blue stone flecked with red flakes. The carving was fluid, yet seemed to represent fire as well. Above the necklace was a ring. A blue crystal, the moon reflected off of it and made it look like it was glowing.

"I know, it's been a rough week. I know this might be the worst timing ever but I had planned this a little bit before and, I mean, I asked your Gran and brother beforehand, well actually your brother told me-" I cut him off by leaning down and kissing him. He smiled looking up with me with those golden eyes. "Katara, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

I nodded, tears sprang to my eyes, but this time they weren't of sadness, but of happiness. Zuko really did make me happy. He's supported me through everything I've done, he's helped me get over my fear of Jet, and we've grown as a couple.

He put the box in my hand and took out the carved necklace. He stood behind me to tie the string and I laughed while he fumbled with it. "I know you said it was an old tradition, which is why I got the ring, too. I know how much you love the other one, so I understand if-"

"I love it, Zuko." He then slipped the ring on my finger.

We hugged and kissed, until I shivered from the cold. We walked together, hand in hand back to our home.

I finally felt like it was really home.


	11. Chapter 11

**edited**

Chapter 11: The New President of the Fire Nation

ZPOV

We decided to wait for the marriage, but what with the ring and necklace, we couldn't avoid the talk. Everyone was walking up to me to congratulate me. It was actually starting to freak me out because a majority of them I didn't actually know.

Katara has been really busy, she tends to take on whatever job is given to her, no matter how tired she is or how much of a workload she has. I love that, and also kind of hate that about her. Not that it's bad, but I see how tired she is. Some nights she comes home and can barely make it to the couch before completely falling asleep. One time, I even found her passed out on the floor. Plus, she's still keeping up with her classes. We barely have any time for ourselves. I'm working extra hours at the Red Dragon simply because I know Katara won't be there when I get home. Those days to ourselves have been what I live for.

She has this need to fix everything, to make sure everything gets done the right way, and the only one who can do it correctly is her. She always does things wonderfully, but I know, just as the rest of her friends has tried to tell her, that she doesn't have to do this all on her own.

For once, she came home early. I was in the kitchen making some tea as she stumbled in. "Hey, babe."

"Hi, Zuko. What are you doing?"

"Making some tea. Uncle gave me some when I mentioned we were running out."

"That's so nice of him. Remind me to go tell him thank you."

"You know you don't have to."

She came up behind me and hugged me, her face in my back. "I know, but I like talking with your uncle."

"You like asking him about war stories." This made her laugh. I turned around and kissed her on the forehead. "How was work?"

She sighed, leaning into my chest. I could feel her relax in my arms, which also comforted me. "They don't know how to shut up."

"Yeah, I figured. One thing every nation has in common are annoying politicians. Are you going to make any trips to Central City soon?"

She nodded. "We had a council meeting today. We were talking about the Fire Nation. A couple of us who work with foreign policy are meeting in Central City next week."

"What about the Fire Nation were you talking about?" I knew closed council meetings meant she wasn't supposed to share, but I couldn't help but be curious.

"The elections are coming up. You don't keep up with their politics, do you?"

I nodded. "Ever since I came here I've pretty much avoided anything that had to do with it. I dealt with it enough when I was younger. Why? What's going on?"

"Well, we keep up with the politics of everywhere, although it's more the job of the Central Council to do that. We were informed that… well the elections don't really look good this year." I waited for her to continue. "Zuko, your sister is running for President."

"What?" I couldn't believe my ears. "No, that can't be. I know she was… but there's no way that the Fire Nation would support that."

Katarra shrugged. "A lot of the country is unsatisfied with how the government is being run. Despite what the world may believe, your father had a lot of supporters. Plus, your sister is preaching for a more modern world. The Fire Nation is going fast with technology, and your sister is using it to her advantage. I mean, she hasn't publicly shown any malice during her campaign..." I could tell there was mlre, but she simply couldn't share. "Besides, she's not the only one running. The other party has a very strong candidate as well. But, I thought you would want to know since it's about your sister." She waited a second, as if not sure if she wants to continue.

"What?" I asked, almost frightened.

"She's really flaunting the fact that her father is the Fire Lord, at least, in a way that will make her look good. For some reason, the Fire Nation is almost in the palm of her hand. And… well… they are starting to wonder what happened to the older brother."

I shook my head letting go of our embrace and walking into the living room, scratching my head. "Dammit, what is she doing?!"

Katara came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders to turn me around. "Zuko, it's fine. Even if they do come looking for you, it's not going to change anything." She put her hands on my cheeks so I would look down at her. "Zuko, I still love you, and I'll be here for you no matter what gets thrown at us, OK? Just like how you are always there for me. This city knows you, and they love you. Although some may be unhappy knowing about the truth, our real friends, they know who you are, and that you are nothing like your father." She touched my scar. "Your past is a part of who you are, and no one can change that, and no one can judge you for it either."

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Thank you Katarra. I… I really needed that." I sighed, leaning into her other hand. "I know you're here for me, and I'm so happy about that. I honestly have no idea how I could survive here without you." She smiled up at me.

"Well, I'm thinking we might want a little more than tea… If you know what I'm saying." I gave her a mischievous smile as she said that and picked her up. She laughed happily and wrapped her legs around me as I rushed into our room.

Months went by and we didn't talk much about the elections anymore. Every once in a while we would watch the world news to try and catch up. Azula was doing pretty good, but it was still close.

The door slammed open while I was cooking us dinner, Katara came in, her cheeks flushed, most likely due to her running. She looked up at the clock and then looked at me.

"Zuko, turn on the world news."

"But I'm-"

"It's election day for the Fire Nation."

That shut me up and I turned the channel to see my sisters face taking up the screen. "And here is our future president of the Fire Nation."

"No way…" I said.

"She won, didn't she?" Katara came and sat down with me on the couch as we watched my sister wave to the large crowd that greeted her. Katara swore.

"I didn't think she'd actually…"

"I was hoping she wouldn't."

"What's wrong?" Katara stayed silent for a while, not looking at me. "Katara? You have to tell me, what's going on now? Why are you so worried about my sister becoming President? I mean, I know she's pretty mean, and that look in her eye… it can't be good, but what does that have to do with you?"

"I… Your sister has expressed her… distaste for the Water Nations. She didnt at first, but once she realized she actually had a chance, her voice started changing dorection. And well… I was requested by the Northern Water Nation that should Azula become president… they want me to protect the royal family."

I widened my eyes at what she was saying. "You're going to the Northern Water Nation? Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

"I was hoping it wouldn't happen. I mean, Azula's father was the Fire Lord, they overthrew him for a reason! I hadn't told anyone. I had gotten a letter from them as soon as Azula announced she was running."

"Katara, that was months ago!"

"I didn't want to go!"

"Did you already agree?" She didn't say anything. "Katara! I thought we were in this together, I thought we would always be here for each other. Why wouldn't you tell me this? We could've talked about this. As a couple, as soon to be married couples!" I stood, shaking my head. I couldn't believe it.

She was leaving me and she didn't even ask me about my opinion. How could she do this to me? "Zuko, they asked me not to tell anyone. No one else knows about it." I sighed, scratching my head. I squatted down, my hair covering my face.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"I… don't know."

"Why can't I come with you?"

"Zuko…"

"Yeah, I know, it's because I'm Fire Nation, the person you're trying to protect them from."

"Not only that, but they know who you are."

I looked up at her in astonishment. "You told them?"

She immediately refused the idea. "NO! No, Zuko, I didn't tell them. They saw you on TV with me, and they looked you up. They were really mad at me, actually, but I told them to shove it."

I wasn't sure whether to be ashamed or happy. "You could've talked to me. Why is it that you can't confide in me? Do you not trust me?"

"Of course I trust you." She squatted with me and put her hand on my cheek. "Zuko, I probably trust you more than I have ever trusted anyone." I believed that. She barely even trusted her own brother.

"So what does that mean for us?"

"We'll still be engaged, we are still together. But I need to go do this."

"Katara, you don't need to do anything."

She sighed. I knew that sigh. There was nothing I could say that would make her change her mind. I grabbed her face and put my forehead against hers. "Promise me you'll come back."

She hesitated. "I promise. But I need to tell you-"

Suddenly there was a heavy knock on the door. "Hey! Lovebirds! Open the freaking door." We both laughed to hear Sokka's voice on the other end.

I sat back on the couch as Katarra stood to open the door. After that first time he caught us in bed, he never used his key unless he knew we weren't home already. "Hey Sokka, how's it going?"

"Good. How's my little sis and her fire cracker?"

She laughed and let him inside. He was wearing his uniform and had a large luggage. "Why is it that even if I get engaged that you still never call when you are coming to visit?"

"Because I know how much you like surprises."

She rolled her eyes. "I hate surprises."

"Whatever."

I stood to hug him and said. "How's the high life?"

Sokka laughed and hugged me back. "Same old. You guy's wanna hear some awesome news?"

"What?" Katarra asked.

"I'm going to be stationed in the Southern Water Nation!" Both Katarra's and my eyes widened.

"That's amazing!" Katara said.

"I know. Now we can be closer." He said and hugged his sister. She stiffened. Our earlier conversation came back to me and my mood immediately plummeted.

Sokka noticed his stiff sister and took a step back, looked at me, and suddenly became worried. "What? What's wrong? I thought we were happy I was coming home. You know, if it's about the living arangements, I'm still going to be on the base for the-"

"No," I cut in. "Katarra, you have to tell him."

"Tell me what?" Katarra was refusing to look at her brother and he pressed on. "Katarra? What's going on?"

She sighed before continuing. "I'm not staying."

He didn't quite understand. He looked at me for a better explanation but I refused to say a word, since I was still mad at Katarra, and also I knew it was better for her to tell him. I debated for a moment about leaving the room, but I also know that even if I was mad, Katarra felt reassurance by my presence and I helped her get through this hard conversation. "Sokka… I'm not staying in the Southern Water Nation for very long."

"Where are you going? Visiting friends?"

"…Kinda. The…" She sighed and took a deep breath before saying, "The royal family of the Northern Water Nation asked me to be their bodyguard since Azula is now president."

Sokka didn't say anything, he just looked at her. I saw the wheels turning in his burning blue eyes. Then, it clicked. "Wait, you're _what?_ "

Katarra looked at me as if asking for help but I shook my head. She knew I still generally disagreed with the idea, but more that she took so long to tell me. "I have to go the Northern Water Nation. They need me to-"

"What about us?" Sokka asked, motioning towards me and himself.

"I know you guys will be fine here-"

"No, you don't. Plus, I won't know if you're safe. I pushed for this spot so I could be closer. Closer to you! Not to him-no offense." He said looking at me.

I shook my head. "None taken. I'm not exactly happy with it either."

"You knew?"

"She told me five minutes ago, when we saw Azula win."

Sokka gave her an incredulous look. "What the fuck Katarra? You can't do that! You can't keep all of this stuff to yourself. Your friends and family are supposed to be here for you, we are here to help you. Sometimes you need to tell them stuff. Like, you know, when you plan on moving across the world to be the bodyguard of a family that is probably number one on the hit list of one of the most powerful women in the world!" He heaved in another breath to continue. "You might die! Did you ever think of that? Do you think I could lose you too? Gran is already gone, Mom is gone, Dad is… Who knows what the fuck is with him. Katara, you are the only thing I have, my only home, my only family. I died every day not knowing where you were or how you were doing while you were gone to study. Can't you think about that? Huh?! Tell me Katara, what are you planning on accomplishing?!" Sokka's voice was getting louder and I was starting to get worried. I saw the tears well up in Katarra's eyes and they were soon to spill.

I stood, not sure if something was about to happen. Sokka was red in the face, but tears were threatening to spill as well. Before Katarra could retaliate, Sokka stomped out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him, leaving his stuff.

Once the door was closed, Katarra fell to her knees and started crying. I quickly ran to her and held her to me and let her cry while I stroked her hair. I murmured sweet nothings to help her calm down. It took a while, but she finally calmed herself down to whimpers and then silent tears. Her face was on my neck and I could feel the heavy tears filled with emotions dripping down. I did my best not to cry, knowing it would only make it worse.

"I'm sorry Zuko. I'm so sorry I'm doing this to you."

I sighed. "You're still going."

She didn't say anything. I simply held her in my arms until she was perfectly silent, but not asleep. "I just want you to know… I generally support you in everything you do, because I know you are a strong woman, and I know you can do whatever you put your mind to. You can kick my ass, and I'm pretty sure you can kick anyone's ass, honestly, but even you have emotions, you have limits. With how hard you are going, instead of simply stumbling onto your limit, it's going to hit you at full speed, tipping you over, and I'm scared about how it'll affect you. You think you're invincible-er, not the right words. You think you're… I don't even know, superwoman. But, babe, you aren't. I mean, you're seriously just shy of it. But, you still aren't.

"I'm scared you won't come back." The tears came out. "I'm scared I'm never going to see you again. That you aren't going to come back and we won't get married, we won't have kids. You're leaving me, just like my mother. You became the most important person in my life and I don't… Agni, I don't want to lose that."

She stayed silent and I stopped talking. I knew she wasn't asleep, but I picked her up and carried her to the room. There, we laid, silently. Letting the darkness surround us. The moon shone through the window.

"When do you leave?" I whispered.

"… in 3 weeks."

And then we slept.


	12. Chapter 12

**edited**

Chapter 12: When One Journey Ends, Another Begins

KPOV

It was hard for me to say goodbye to everyone. There were many tears, many heartfelt words, and each hug felt like another piece of my heart ripping away. My excuse was that I had a friend who was getting married in the North, and that I would be gone for only a little while. If I wasn't back after a week or so, I'm sure there will be questions, but I didn't need to deal with them right now.

"We can come visit." Kurik said. I shook my head. "Yeah, I know. Super secret business." He did his best not to cry. Nala was a mess though. Surprisingly so was Esrick.

However, there was something that I had been pushing off since my brother interrupted Zuko and I. I needed to tell Zuko something, but I had been scared to talk about it out loud, in fear that others would be hearing. I'm sure the paranoia started seeping in almost a year ago. I hadn't told anyone, mostly because I couldn't completely prove…

I shook it out of my head as I stepped out of the car, now at the port. Zuko went to the back and helped me with my luggage. We walked to the docks where the small boat was waiting for me. Before I walked up the ramp, I turned to give Zuko my last goodbye.

It had been really hard to say goodbye to him and my brother. Sokka was still mad at me, only really talked to me when he had to, he hasn't shown up today, and Zuko had been distant. "Zuko…"

There was a cold breeze and I couldn't help but shiver. Zuko grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, my face buried into his chest. "I'll see you soon Katara."

"…I love you Zuko."

"I love you, too."

"When I get back, we are going to get married."

"You know we don't need a ceremony to know that we will always love each other."

I pulled out the letter from my pocket. "Zuko, I need you to do something for me." I said, not leaving his embrace, slipping the letter to into the inside pocket of his jacket. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, but I can't say it here. Burn it." I lean up and kiss him. A man came down and grabbed my bags and I let go of Zuko. "Remember, I love you."

He nodded, but said nothing and I walked up the ramp into the boat. I was the only person on it that wasn't working on it. The boat brought up its anchor and I watched as Zuko slowly became a part of the fog that surrounded my city, my home.

It was my home, that's for sure, somewhere that I could go back to, but the journey I had hoped to start, was ending so soon. But now, there's something new in front of me, a new path. It scared me to not have a real good idea of what was coming, but it's something I need to do. This may be my home, but it wasn't time for me to go back yet, I was still on my way.

"Ma'am, I'ma hav'ta ask ya to get 'ta your room. It'sa gettin' dark and yuh dun know when it goes a-splashin."

"You don't have to call me ma'am. Just call me Katara."

"Of c-course, Katara."

I smiled at him before saying. "I'll go down in just a moment, I like to watch the sunset. Have you ever taken the time to just watch the sun go down on the snowy ocean? It's a wonderful view."

He didn't seem to know how to answer, so I turned back to the view and leaned against the railing. I felt his presence next to me and saw out of the corner of my eye he was looking out into the ocean as well. "Yessa, you's right, it'sa mighty nice view. The sun's a lookin just fine." The man hummed to himself in approval. "Muh name is Ku, I'm a wuker, makin sure we keep on a'movin."

We watched as the sun set. The silence wasn't awkward, it enveloped him and I, almost in a warm blanket and I relaxed. Probably the first time I've relaxed since I was just a plain old teacher.

"Hun, what ya runnin' frum?"

The sun had set and the stars were shining in the sky. "What makes you think I'm running from something?"

"Yur takin' a lil' ole boat all the way to the North when you cudda taken a big ole boat or a big ole plane. Captain and talkin' much 'bout it, says we just gotta be nice, is all. So I just figure you's a runnin' from somethin."

"Not exactly, Ku. I got some business I gotta do before I go back home."

"No matter what you try an say it's not, you still lookin like you's runnin. Hopefully, you stop runnin and look at the sun again and see that really, there ain't no place to go."

"Ku, do you know Garook?"

"That ole ugly fart? 'course I know 'im. We's old fishin buds. Wait, you tellin' me you Tara?"

"I figured you'd know him."

"Well, shucks, it's mighty nice meatin the queen of the city. Have a nice trip, ya hear? I'm a see ya when the sun wakes."

I wave to him as he walks away to most likely check on the engine or something like that. I waited a few more minutes, looking up into the stars before I decided it was time I went to bed. I went below deck to my small little room. I changed into some pajamas and slipped into my blanket.

I woke up bright an early, I could hear the waves hitting the sides of the boat and the talk of men on the floor above me. I slipped into my warm sweats, a sports bra and a long sleeve to greet the men working on the boat. I grabbed my jacket and boots and ran up the steps. When I walk up I see three men including Ku sipping on something hot and eating some food, sitting on some stools near the sides of the boat. Ku looked up and saw me and I waved. One man was much younger than Ku, probably only a little older than me. He was tall, light skinned and green eyes. From the Earth Nation no doubt. The other man was older, same age as Ku and had a big long white beard with long white hair and tanned skin with grey eyes. They looked up to me and I could tell in their eyes that their interests were peaked.

"Well hello pretty lady, I'm sorry we never had the chance to meet last night, but we were busy working. I hear you made good friends with my buddy, Ku, here." The older one said.

"Yes, and what are your names?"

"This is Haru and I'm Kit. And you?"

"Katara." I say and shake their hands.

"Nice to meet you." Haru mumbles.

"Mind telling me where the kitchen is? I'd like to make myself some food as well."

"There's still some grub waiting in there. There's only about 4 rooms down there, one is yours, one is ours, one is captain's and the other is the kitchen. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

I nodded and headed back down the stairs. I walked down the narrow hall to the door that was wide open and saw the small kitchen. There seemed to be some kind of porridge or something of that kind sitting in a pot on the stove. I shuddered at the thought of what it could be, or what it was becoming simply sitting there.

I looked through the fridge and saw a few vegetables, so I pulled them out and cooked it up. Soon enough, Ku came in, a hungry look on his face and he seemed to visibly brighten at the sight of real food. "Go ahead, have some, I made enough for more than me."

"Oh, Tara, you's mighty fine, I'm sure happy you's a here to make some well off food." He took a bite into it and smiled. "Gee! Best food I'va ever had tasted on my tongue, that's sure."

"Oh, Ku, that's too kind of you."

"How 'bout we tell nun the others 'bout it. I wanna eat this awfully nice food all by muh lonesome."

"Now, what are you trying to hide?" Kit said as he came in. "My god! Is that food?" I laughed as he shoveled a fork full of it into his mouth straight off the pan.

"Do you guys mind if I do some fishing?"

"You know how to fish?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I know how to fish."

"Then, gee, I don't mind."

"Thanks." I said.

I knew I had to do something to keep me occupied. It was going to take at least a month of smooth sailing to get to the Northern Nations. A very long trip, if you ask me. I have had my fair share of travels, but this was probably going to be my longest.

Later that evening I was on the deck, looking into the water. I watched as the boat made ripples into the ocean and small waves bounced off the sides. Most fish are scared away by the sound of the boats engine and the ripples it creates, but as long as I focused my energy enough, I could focus on the small movements of fish deeper within the water.

Out came a fish encircled by water. I heard a gasp and I turned my head to see Haru staring at me with wide eyes. "You're a waterbender?"

I laughed and gave him a funny look and put the fish into the cooler I had next to me. "It appears so."

"I've never met a female waterbender."

Originally, I had seen him as quiet, and shy, maybe a little standoffish, but now he had excitement and curiosity filling his eyes and he inched toward me with every word. "Yeah, I'm actually a master. I studied water bending in college, even."

"You can go to school for water bending?"

"Yep, and you don't even have to be a waterbender."

He cocked his head to the side, reminding me of a polar bear dog. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Well, some people really like the history of water bending; they like to learn about how it works, why certain people have it, when it's the strongest or the weakest, or maybe the specific types of water bending, like healing or just fighting."

"That's amazing!"

"I know. I loved learning about it. You know, I actually learned more about my bending while studying other bending. I learned certain stances for airbending, earthbending, and firebending. It's quite fascinating."

"How did you learn so much?" He was standing next to me, practically eating up everything I said.

"I traveled a lot while I was in school. I went to all the nations and found people to teach me."

"I wish I could go to all those places."

I smiled at him. "I'm sure one day you will get the chance. Besides, aren't we stopping at the earth kingdom in the morning?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but I don't get off the boat much."

"Would you like to come shopping with me?"

His eyes widened, as if not believing his ears. "I would love to!" I laughed and he looked down shyly. "Well, I have to get back to work, it was nice meeting you 'Tara."

"Same goes to you, Haru." And then he scurried off to do whatever it is he needed to do. I looked back at our conversation and laughed as I continued to catch fish and squid and grabbed some floating seaweed so I could make some traditional Southern Water Nation meals.

Despite the obvious long journey ahead of me on this boat, it made me excited to know I was going out into the world once again, seeing everything for what it really is. So much has changed in the years I have been gone. I may have had to leave some behind, but I know it was for the best.

I just hope nothing happens while I'm away.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Corruption

ZPOV

I recall a conversation I had with Katarra before she left.

 _"_ _I don't want you to go." I blurted one night. She was living in less than 2 weeks, and I had tried to support her as much as I could. However, this overwhelming feeling I had lately needed to be let out. I needed to tell her how I felt._

 _She hadn't seemed surprised. We were lying in bed, she was reading a book while I rested my head on her lap. It was moments like these I really loved, when we were so close, that no words needed to be exchanged. I just would close my eyes and feel comforted by her presence. Except, this time, I realized that this moment wasn't going to happen again, in a very long time, if ever. She set down her book on the night stand and ran her hand through my hair, playing with it almost, and didn't say anything, waiting for me to continue._

 _"_ _I… I don't want to be alone again."_

 _She sighed, not in disappointment, but with her own despair. "Zuko, I'm not leaving you forever."_

 _"_ _Yah? And what if Azula does attack? What if you get stuck in some kind of crossfire and die? What if you won't come back?" I was really worked up. "You won't come back, nobody ever comes back to me."_

 _I couldn't look her in the eyes, because I knew I would see pain in her eyes. This hurt her more than it hurt me. But, I was really hurting, and I may want her to suffer with me, but I wasn't willing to look at it. Just knowing was painful enough. "I'm coming back."_

 _"_ _You don't know that."_

 _"_ _I do, Zuko."_

 _She had so much confidence in her voice, it was hard to say anything against it. I leaned my face into her thigh, not wanting her to see me cry. "Promise me you'll come back. Tell me you aren't actually leaving me. That you aren't abandoning me."_

 _She picked up my face and squeezed in her hands, kissed my nose then lips, and said, "Zuko, I am not, nor will I ever abandon you. I love you more than anything, and I will come back so we can get married and have kids."_

 _Both of us were crying now, and we hugged. "I'm coming back," was what she kept repeating._

I found out why she was so confident, why she knew. It was all in the letter.

 ** _Dear Zuko,_**

 **** ** _There are some things I haven't been able to tell you, secret's I've been hiding for a while, and I'm sorry I haven't told you sooner, but I was worried about your safety. You of all people should know I would never to anything to risk the lives of others._**

 **** ** _It is true I was called to the Northern Nation to protect the royal family, however, that is not the whole story. I was skeptical of this before I took office, but after I was back in the inner circle, my suspicions were practically confirmed. The government is corrupt, and they'd do anything to keep my mouth shut. I know some secrets about the North and the royal family, big secrets. Secrets that they would be willing to kill to make sure they stay that way. Which is why I decided to take the offer. I'm going to get close, and confirm them for sure this time. Something is going on with the Water Nations, and the Central Council and the Royal Family have something to do with it._**

 **** ** _To protect you, I will not say exactly what is going on, but I want you to trust me. Trust that I have a plan._**

 ** _If you do not hear from me after a 6 month period, pack up everything that you can and go to the Earth Nation. Find a girl names Toph Beifong and tell her that you are my husband._**

 ** _I understand if you don't want to do this, if you want to lose all ties with me, I get it. Just know that I love you, and I'm just trying to do the right thing._**

 ** _Love,_**

 **** ** _Katarra_**

I immediately burned the paper in my hand. Inside the envelope was a green card, as thick as cardboard, but cold like metal and covered in this soft green fabric. On it was a white stamp of a pig or hog with wings. I have no idea what it is, or what the meaning to it was. After the paper was completely burned I put the card in the same cabinet I had my passport.

I really didn't know what to think. To know that Katarra had easily been hiding such big secrets from me was hard to know, but it was also hard to think that this had been weighing down on her shoulders so much.

A week went by, and I forced myself to work as hard as I could. After another 2 weeks, my uncle began to worry.

I was working a late shift and I could feel my eyes drooping, my body swaying, but I refused to stop working. Katarra had enough money in a fund so that both of us could've lived comfortably without having to work for the rest of our lives, but I could just laze around and mooch off of my fiancé's money.

I almost fell over and my uncle came to my side. "Zuko, you need rest."

I was going to fight him off, but realized I was probably worse for business this way. I simply nodded, took off my apron and went up to the home I used to live in.

Immediately, my eyelids came down and I knocked out on my uncle's couch. When I woke up, I smelled tea and I looked around to see Uncle in the kitchen, making some. "You seem to have a lot going on."

"You have no idea." Was all that I could respond.

"May I ask what is on your mind?"

I shook my head. "Something is going on with Katarra, some bad stuff, I think. And I can't do anything to protect her."

"Have you heard from her?"

"I've gotten two letters, but I can't send any back until I know where she is staying in the North. She's sent both from ports in the Earth Kingdom."

"Is she ok?"

"Yah, she's fine for the time being, it's when she gets to the North." I had told Uncle the same story Katarra told everyone else, but I knew he knew that it wasn't the truth.

"I believe she is a strong woman, and can take care of herself."

"What if it affects us?"

"How do you mean?" He asked and took a sip of his tea, sitting next to me on the couch and handing me my cup.

"What if something puts us in danger? What if… what if I have to leave?"

"Zuko, you of all people should know I can take care of myself, even if I'm old. And… if for some reason you have to leave… well, that's your decision, my boy." He took another sip, looking into the colored warm water. "Everyone has a path they must take, and although some may believe in fate, it is the path we choose that leads us to such destination. If you believe in what you are doing, you should then believe in whatever the outcome may be. You must decide what is best for you, not what is best for her, or for me."

I looked down into my tea and took a sip, not knowing how to respond. Instead, I asked, "Can I stay the night?"

Uncle Iroh laughed, "This is as much of your home as it is mine."

That was the best I had slept since Katarra had left.

It's been a little over 2 months since Katarra had left. I've only been able to send back two letters, us talking about anything we could fit into the small parchments. I finally managed to get into a steady routine here, and Katarra seemed to be doing fine. There was a large time difference, so it was hard to get free time to try and skype. Plus, I've realized that Wifi sucks at both poles. I blame the snow.

Sokka as well as other friends of Katarra's and mine would come to the Red Dragon every so often to see how I was doing. I even went out drinking one night with the part timer that had been working with us. Uncle was thinking about seeing if he could become full time, since business was booming and we both loved the help. I agreed, he was a good guy and a good worker.

When I opened up the small mailbox for our apartment, I saw a letter from Katarra, and I couldn't help but smile to myself. Too excited to wait, I opened the letter right there. The words inside were not at all what I expected.

 ** _Change of plans, go now. The card will give you a free ride._**

She hadn't addressed me, nor did she sign a name, but I knew it was her from the mentioning of the card. The green card that had the flying pig. I ran into the apartment and packed as fast as I could. While I packed, I called my uncle. "Zuko? What's wrong?"

"Remember what we talked about when Katarra first left?" He stayed silent, but I knew he recalled it. "It's happening. I'm going to go… visit her."

"I understand."

"I love you Uncle." And I hung up the phone.

I called a taxi after that to take me to the main city where the airport was. I don't know how long it would take to go by boat, and I had no idea where in the large Earth Nation I was headed to, but I knew I had to leave now.

At first, I had questioned it all, whether or not to blindly trust Katarra. Sure, she may have been through a lot, and she was much more mature than I was and she knew things I'd never know, but she was also separating me from my family. Taking me away from the place I was beginning to feel was home.

And then I realized why it felt like home. Katarra was the one to accept me, to introduce me to everyone. Her love was what kept me together through the horrible darkness that seemed to surround my light. My element may by fire, but I had never felt so warm as I did with her. She would sacrifice anything for me, even leaving her home and her family and friends to make sure I was safe. I would do that same.

So I grabbed what I could, and took a taxi to the nearest bank, grabbed some money out of her account, as well as mine, and headed to the airport.

It was late, really later. I doubted if there were any planes ready to go for me. I'd probably end up sleeping at the airport waiting.

I ran inside and went to check-in. "Hello, sir, where are you headed off to today?"

"I'm going to the Earth Nation." I stated, and handed her the green card along with my passport.

She seemed in awe of the heavy card I just passed her. "I see, well, the jet will be ready in about 30 minutes. Your terminal will be…" I was shocked at how ready it all seemed. Did she just say jet? "Thank you for visiting the Southern Water Nation. I shall alert the Beifongs of your arrival."

I didn't say anything, just starred. She handed me back my card and my passport and checked in my large bag. No ticket.

Best thing to do was pretend I knew what I was doing. "Wait here a moment and there will be someone to escort you." Within a few seconds, a large tanned man with tattoos on his face came to my side.

"Please, sir, follow me."

I did so, and we walked in silence. Finally, I decided to cut the silence and say something. "So, are you from the South?"

He nodded. "Yes, I have lived here my whole life. And you sir?"

"Born in the Fire Nation."

"The Beifong family truly does have ties everywhere, don't they?"

"You can believe." I may or may not be silently freaking out because I had no idea what I was talking about.

I had thought about researching the family, but paranoia took over me and I couldn't help but think someone was watching me, and I didn't want them to know where I was headed. "Do you live in the Earth Nation now?" He asked me.

"No, I live here, I'm visiting an old friend."

"Must be very close if they gave you that card."

"You could say that."

We arrived at a terminal that no one else seemed to be waiting at. The traditional blue uniform was replaced by a green one as I walked into the plane. "Hello, my name is Li, I will be you attendant today."

"Zuko."

"We hope you have a wonderful flight, Zuko."

It was wonderful. I was the only one in the plane, or jet, whatever. I was given free drinks and food, yet it was only a 3-hour flight. By the time I arrived, it would be morning.

I was woken up by the sudden descend of the plane. I looked out the window and saw the sun peaking over a mountain range. It was beautiful. I had never been to the Earth Nation before, not really. I looked down to see the private landing area, and what seemed to a single woman standing next to a white fancy car. We landed and Li smiled to me and waved as I walked down the steps.

As soon as I stepped onto the earth, it came shooting up under my foot, making me go off balance and fall on my ass. I immediately threw myself onto my feet into a defensive position towards the girl. "Who are you and why do you have our familiars card?"

I stayed silent for a moment before answering. "Are you Toph Beifong?"

She had black shaggy hair that hung over her eyes, so they were hard to see. She was wearing a green robe of some sorts with green leggings underneath. And she had no shoes… She seemed taken aback by the remark.

"How do you know my name?"

I sighed and relaxed, only to have the earth shoot up again and hit me in the gut. "I will repeat only once more, fire crotch, how do you know my name?"

"I'm… ugh… Katarra's husband."

The girl, who I've figured is Toph, laughed out. Both of her arms wrapped around her stomach and she threw her head back, laughing her ass off. It was then that I saw her eyes. They were faded, and she seemed not to be looking anywhere in particular. She was blind.

"OH, wow." She gasped out, wiping a tear from her eye. "So, Sugar Queen got a Sugar Daddy? That's gold. And I fire bender no less."

"Wait, how do you know I'm a fire bender?"

She completely ignored my question and opened the door to her car. "C'mon… Zuko, was it? We are going to my place."

I got up and sat in the car next to her. The windows were dark and there was a bald pale man driving. "Alfred, please take me home."

"Yes, Toph."

"Ok, so, why is it that Sugar Queen sent you here?" Toph asked, getting right into business. I fidgeted, looking to the driver and to her. "Don't worried about Alfred. I could kill someone and he'd never tell." A sly smile appeared on her face, which didn't make me any less nervous.

"Katarra was on some secret covert mission in the North Pole, protecting the Royal family incase President Azula decided to attack. She told me that if anything happened, to use the card and meet you here, in the Earth Nation. I don't know if she plans to meet me here or…"

"So you know jack, is what you are saying. Typical of Katarra, she's such a mom. Well, if she sent you here, that means she wants you protected. She will most likely come in a few days, that's just how she works. Well, you should know, being her husband and all."

I just nodded, and then realized she couldn't see it and mumbled, "Yah." I looked around the nice car when a thought came to mind. "How did you know I was a firebender?"

"I felt it, it's your chi."

"You can feel chi?"

"So can Katarra."

My eyes widened. Thankfully she couldn't see my expression. "How do you see it?"

"Think I can't 'cause I'm blind?"

"That's not what I-"

"Chill, Fire Pants, I was joking. I see through my feet."

"You what?"

"I can feel vibration through the earth, which is how I knew where you were standing. If I focus hard enough, I can feel the chi moving throughout your body, when I locate the center of it, I know what element you bend, if you bend one at all."

"That's amazing."

"I'm surprised that she hasn't taught you. How long have you been together?"

"Almost two years."

She nodded. "Well, I can see where she's coming from, many people can't sense them. She's very powerful, more powerful than you probably know."

"I've seen her fight before."

"She's been in the south pole this whole time right?"

"Yah."

"Then you haven't seen half of the things I have."

"She's told me a few stories about when she was traveling. She's very… reserved about her travels, I know she's been through a lot."

"Well aren't you just sweet. Well, she was quite the badass while she was here. We met at an underground arena… Well, you know, it wasn't the best introduction, but look where we are now. It's funny, she became some nice member of society when she had been a vigilante."

"She _what_?"

Toph just laughed. "You'll have to ask her about that. Oh, we should be coming up to my home soon."

I looked out the window and my mouth dropped.

A large palace-like building that had different shades of green was now in our view.

Just what have I gotten myself into?

 **I know everything went kind of fast, but I really wanted the transition to go by fast so I can get to the good stuff. Hope you liked it!**


	14. Chapter 14

**I'm so sorry it's taken me forever to update. Please forgive!**

Chapter 14: Abort

KPOV

This wasn't supposed to happen.

That was all I could think as I started puking into the toilet.

No, no, no. This wasn't supposed to happen.

I knew exactly what was happening, and I needed to leave as soon as possible. I had sent the letter to Zuko last week. It wasn't what I had originally planned, but I needed to escape soon, and I needed Zuko on my side.

"Master Katara? Are you ok in there?"

"Yes, it seems my stomach wasn't quite used to the ice scallops yet."

"Ok, I have some remedies if need be. The princess is waiting for you."

"I'll be out in a minute, I'm sure I'm fine."

Nothing came as a response, and I could feel the steps moving farther away from the bathroom door. I groaned as another wave of puke came out of my mouth. I melted some of the water off of the wall and used it to rinse my mouth.

After making sure I was presentable, I walked out of the bathroom, walked down the hall to the Royal Room. Yes, it literally says that on the map they gave me to study. Inside sat the Emperor, his wife, and the Princess, as well as her soon to be groom. It almost made me cringe to see them, knowing how Sokka felt.

But that was all going to change.

"You called for me, Princess Yue?"

"Yes, I wished to talk to you about your stay here."

I looked at the Emperor with curiosity, and he stayed straight faced, letting his daughter continue. It probably wasn't her idea, whatever was going to be said, but it was her duty, as the soon to be Empress, that she needed to be the one to bear bad news.

"Yes?"

"We would like to offer that your stay with us becomes permanent." I paused, knowing this was going to happen soon enough, waiting for her or her father to continue. "We require your assistance. We understand that you have ties in the Southern Nation, which is why we are willing to bring anyone here, grant them life in the North. You have a fiancé, no?" I nod. "Yes, he can come. But that means that your… gifts can only be used to assist the north, and you will have to give your blood to the Moon and Sea gods for our oath."

I didn't bow my head; I never have when it came to them. The emperor had first taken it as a sign of disrespect, but after getting closer to me, understanding what I could do, he realized it was actually a sign of respect. Or, well, a little bit of both.

For once, I bowed my head. I could feel the heavy air around the room, knowing that they knew exactly what I was going to say next. "I apologize, but I can't take that offer."

The emperor sighed. "Katara, you are probably the most powerful person besides the Avatar, and you alone could take down a whole army. Maybe even more so as time has gone by. Our Nation is clouded in fear of the Fire Nation. We have done our best to stay out of war, but it seems inevitable now. We can offer you so much more, here, in the North. You weren't even part of the army in the South! You were a simple school teacher!" He ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. "Your father doesn't even know of the power you have. Can you really live with such disrespect? Can you live with being unknown your whole life? Being stuck in that small village, no longer seeing the world?" He stared at me with such conviction. "You have only reached the bare minimum of what you can really do, I can see it in your eyes, your need to see the world. You can help us conquer countries, the world even. All of it, at your fingertips."

I smiled, and the emperor sighed once again. "I am going to have to decline, Arnook."

Hahn, Yue's betrothed, seemed astonished. He stood, angrily glaring at me. "How _dare_ you. Who do you think you are? Just because your some kind of good bender, you think you can decline-no- humiliate our emperor? You are nothing but a woma-" His sentence was cut short by a sharp icicle pointed directly at his adam's apple.

"Please, would you like to finish that sentence?"

"Hahn, if anyone has humiliated me here today, it is you. Katara is a respected ally whom I'd gladly let guard my life. I put my own reputation on the line asking this of her."

I let the ice fall into water, soaking Hahn, and I could see Yue trying to hold back a laugh. Hahn huffed and left the room to go change. As soon as he left, I gave Arnook a look. "Really, Arnook? Him?"

He rubbed his head. "Despite his flaws, he's one of our best warriors."

"Pfft, yah, for an army that hasn't fought for almost 100 years."

"See what I mean? We need you here!"

"So does the South, and that is where my loyalties lie."

"I understand, but I also know that's not the whole story." He looked upon me with skepticism. "You're planning something. I know it, I can feel it. Not only the Fire Nation will be raining down on us. You know something, probably too much. You wouldn't happen to be willing to tell me?"

I paused, not knowing what to do, so I decided it was time for the closest thing to the truth. "I plan on only staying for about a month longer. I…" I looked down at my stomach. "I'm pregnant."

Yue gasped. "No way!"

"Yes." I smiled up at her. "I'm with child, and I'd rather be with my soon to be husband, as my pregnancy goes along, instead of training armies. I'm sure you understand."

Arnook wasn't convinced, but knew he couldn't go much farther with others in the room.

Before he could say anything, there was a sudden boom and the floor shook. Hahn came running back into the room. "The Fire Nation is here!"

Without a second to process, I immediately began to make measures for protection. "You need to head to the oasis, right now. That is the safest place for you. Hahn, go with them, protect them with your life. I will go out there now."

I ran out of the room and used a com to give orders to the troops waiting for action. Within minutes, I made it to the wall, where men with bows and arrows as well as some guns were firing. Water benders stood with them, mending the wall as the Fire Nation broke holes into it, or tried.

"Hurk! I'm diving down, I'm going to get onto that ship." Before he could even respond, I threw myself off the wall, diving into the freezing cold water. I used the water push me up into the air and landed on the back of the boat. I had no real armor on, only some warm animal skins. I didn't need it though.

There were about 10 men in the back, and I brought up a giant wave, pushing them off of the boat. A wave of arrows came and I easily evaded them. There were about 12 Fire Nation ships, and I planned to wipe out all of them.

More men came to the surface of the boat and I fought them to the end, either throwing them into the sea or… ending their life. I finally made it inside of the boat, making my way to the captains room. When I found the Captains room I locked the door behind me. He tried to fire bend at me, but I blended his blood to stop him.

He screamed in pain. His fire was trapped within him, with no way out. The was excruciating, especially for fire benders, since their element came from within. I turned his arms to the wheel and swung the wheel to the right, making the boat crash into the boat next to it.

And then I stopped his heart.

I ran out into the open, jumping onto the next boat, to do the same, in which case I was again successful. Other benders joined me after I took down the 4th ship.

I knew that this was my moment, the one chance I could get.

I had two other guys with me. We ran into the boat, and one of the Fire Nation's men lit the door on fire. I was already inside. "Run! Go stop the Captain!"

It was the last boat, and it was my last fight.

The room blazed, filling with smoke, I would have suffocated if I didn't stop him as quick as I did. He laid on the floor, fire burning around him, and I broke the small window, and jumped out of it. I fell into the water, swimming deep enough they couldn't see me and I swam to the deserted part of the Nation, the area that was literally ice, and that's it. Only fishermen every really come to the area. I had a pack waiting for me, ready for my escape.

I started walking inland, going to the nearest village to ask for a ride to the Earth Nation.

I could hear the cheers of victory as the last boat sunk to the ground. Only about 7 of them actually sunk, the rest were taken in for supplies they could use. Azula hadn't been on these boats, and there hadn't actually been much of a fight. There soldiers weren't strong or well trained, I could tell just by fighting with them. Azula was just wasting the weaklings, sending them to their death. Or to the capture, knowing they were useless. I gripped the pack on my back with anger.

I wouldn't die until she was off the thrown she held herself on. There was no way she would get away with using lives like this. Not even the North would be willing to sacrifice people like that.

There was an old country home, most likely a fishermans home, and I stumbled upon their door, fatigued. I didn't have to fake how tired and worn out I was. My muscles were on fire and my energy was practically drained, not to mention I had no idea how my baby was doing. Before I could even knock on the door, I fell to the floor on their porch.

I woke to the feeling of a warm cloth on my forehead and blankets tucked into my sides. I did my best not to freak out. I kept still, letting my sense slowly come out of their haze. I opened my eyes to see the walls of the small igloo I had come across on my journey to the village. I looked around, groaning in pain as I felt how sore my muscles were. A little old woman with white hair came into the room, with a bucket of hot water. When she saw my awake, she called out. "Henry! She's awake!"

An old man with dark colored eyes and hair came into the room and another man was with him, probably my age. "How are you ma'am. What is your name."

"Hana. My name is Hana." I said groggily. I slipped the cloth off of my forehead. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days. We were afraid you'd never wake up. You were really beaten up. We did our best to bandage your wounds."

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him. "You all must have saved my life. How can I repay you."

The old woman gave me a toothless smile. "Please, sweety, why don't you just stay for dinner. I'm Ka. How did you come across our home?"

I stood up to get a better look at them. "I was… I was fighting on the shore of the Capital. I was stealing supplies from the ships when one of the men pushed me over board, and I washed up here. I just kept walking trying to find my way."

"You were a part of that? No wonder you have such severe wounds. They must think you died."

I nodded. "Yes, which means I should be heading back soon."

She nodded. "Yes, well, at least stay for dinner. You've been gone for three days, one more won't kill them."

"Uhm, can I see that?" I asked, pointing to the steaming water.

She brought it over. I put my hand in it, and sighed in relief. The water started making its way up my arm, and soaked into my skin, relaxing the muscles throughout my body. I then put one hand to my belly, and sighed in relief as I felt the life that was growing there.

I looked up to see them looking at me with astonishment. "You… you're a waterbender. I didn't know any of the armies water benders were woman."

"I'm a special case."

"I can see that."

"Hedrick. Change her bandages as I start making dinner. Henry, go see if you can catch anything today."

The men both nodded, the old couple leaving the room as whom I assumed was their son, Hedrick, came to change my bandages.

"I, don't really think that's necessary."

"What?"

I unwrapped the bandage on my arm, where I had a cut, and it had healed, almost completely closed with no scar. His eye widened. "I've never seen such healing."

"Like I said, I'm a special case."

He sat at the foot of my bed. "How… how was the fight?"

I looked at him with curiosity. "Why do you want to know?"

He looked at the door, seeming worried his parents were going to walk back in and hear the conversations. "I wanted to join the army, help my nation. But Ma was against it, she didn't want me do die. But… do you think I should have been there? Should have been helping."

I gave him a soft smile, reached over and set my hand on his shoulder. "Hedrick, was it?"

"Ya."

"Your father is from the Earth Nation, right?"

"Yah… people can tell by his skin and eye color."

"Just because he has Earth Nation blood, does that mean you need to join their army?"

He slowly shook his head. "No, I'd never thought about that."

"Well, maybe, this is where you are meant to be. The God's have a plan for all of us, and yours doesn't have to be helping the Nation. Sometimes, it's just helping the people you really love."

He nodded. "So… it's not shameful."

I laughed. "Please! Not everyone joins the army. You want to know what I was before? A teacher. I taught high schoolers! And look where I'm at now. My journey has only just begun, but yours doesn't have to end with the army."

"Thank you, Hana."

"My pleasure. Now, help me unwrap these bandages so I can heal myself."

He smiled and began unwrapping the one on my other arm as I unwrapped the one around my stomach.

When Ka came back, she came to tell us dinner was ready. We sat at the table, eating a warm stew, and my belly grumbled in happiness as the warm food went down my throat. "You are with child, aren't you?" Ka finally said, breaking the silence held at the table.

I didn't choke on my food or anything, although I was slightly taken aback. "Yes, I am."

"Is the father in the army?"

"No."

"Hmph."

"Are you married?" Asked Hedrick.

"No, not yet. Engaged. He… lives in the Southern Water Nation."

"The South? What's he doing there?"

"That's where I'm from."

"The North actually asked for assistance from the South. Now, we are in real danger."

I could feel the hostility forming. Ka didn't like strangers in her home, no matter how polite she seemed to be. However, I just laughed, not wanting to create a fight. "Yes, well, that' sjust what happens sometimes." I stood from the table. "I really think it's time for me to get going. Do you have my bag?"

"Yes." Henry said. He stood and opened a closet and pulled out my bag. I grabbed it.

"I'm really thankful for everything you've done for me. My life is indebted to you."

"Have a safe journey, Hana."

I left the house, as the sun was already on the horizon. It was going to get dark soon, which meant the boats were leaving, and I'd have to wait for morning to hop on one to the Earth Nation. I walked into town and paid for a hotel room and waited for morning.

Morning arrived and I went to the docks. The craziest thing happened.

"'Tara! Is that you?!"

I almost laughed. "Ku! No way, what are you doing here? I didn't think you'd be in Northern Waters for a long time."

"Well, what with the fightin' an all we gotta call tellin' us they need some-a new stuff. War is gud for business, ya know."

"I'm sure."

He looked me up and down and laughed. "Well, ain't you a sight for them sore eyes. You's a runnin' agin!"

I laughed. "I'm going to have to agree with you this time. This wouldn't happen to be the same beauty I came in on?"

"Well's o-course it is! Cap never let's us get out-a work that easy. Now, let's getcha where you need ta go. I'll go tell ole cap you getting a ride. We headin' back to the Earth Nation. You need a ride, no?"

"Ku, you know me so well."

He gave me a toothy grin and jumped back onto the boat. Not much longer, I heard shouting and Haru came running onto the deck. "Tara!"

"Haru!"

"I'd never think I'd see you again!"

"Well, here I am!" He jumped off the boat and squeezed me in a big hug. "It's offly nice to see you again. Here, I'll take your stuff. I hear you are coming with us."

"Yes, I am. Thanks." We got on the boat and the first step I took was covered in men, coming at me with excited chatter and hugs. I laughed as I became surrounded. "Yes, Yes, I missed you too."

"We need your cookin!"

"Hahahaha."

"Hey, Tara, are you ok? You seem to be a little… wait, were you in the battle?"

I nodded. "But I'm fine. Nothing few cuts and bruises I couldn't fix. Just tired."

"Everyone back off, let the lady go to sleep."

The all backed off and Haru led me to my old room.

As my eyes closed shut, I just hoped Zuko got my message, and he was safe. Now, I just needed to make sure me and my new baby stayed safe as well.

 **What do you guys think? Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**This is the most freetime I've had in a very long time so I'm trying to do my best to update so that you all can be happy. omygosh I realized I put the wrong chapter up at first, sorry guys. Thank you guest who called me out for that.**

Chapter 15: Death of Love

ZPOV

"Zuko… I have some bad news."

I had been here for about a week, helping around the house, doing everything that Toph said. I still hadn't gotten any word from Katara, and I had no idea where she was, if she was still in the North. "What? Is it about Katara?"

"I… just received news from the North. The Fire Nation attacked the Capital. And there are some deaths… and some bodies haven't been found."

"Just tell me what happened."

"Katara had gone into the ships, taking them down from the inside. Two men were with her when they were on the last sip. She became trapped in a room on fire, and told the others to run. They never found the body."

"No…" I dropped what I was holding, and crouched down, my hands in my hair. "No, this couldn't have happened. She knew… she knew something was going to happen. That's why she told me to come here." Tears began to fall out of my eyes, rolling down my cheek, my body felt warm and freezing at the same time. I couldn't quite comprehend what I'd been told. Katara couldn't be dead. "Wait… you said they didn't find a body."

Toph sighed. "Zuko… she was in a burning room…"

"No, there's still a chance."

"I think you need to understand something. She probably knew she was going to die, and that's why she sent you here. To cash in the favor I owed her. You're here so I can support you, and a new life. Katara… there are a lot of people who would go after the people she loves, especially when they find out who she really is. I'm here to protect you."

"No! She can't be dead! She promised."

Toph walked over to me and bent down so her arms were around me and I could feel the wet tears on her cheeks fall onto my shoulder. "There's something else."

"What?"

"The man who called me was the Emperor. He knew I was close with Katara, and I'm sure he called Sokka as well. Right before the attack, Katara had told him that she would be leaving within a month. The attack happened about 2 weeks ago. But, she told him her reason was… well... "

"Out with it, Toph."

She sighed into my shoulder. Her breath shaky and tears seemed to be falling faster. "She was pregnant. Zuko. Katara had a baby in her stomach."

Before I could even comprehend what had just been said, there was a knock on the door. "Not now!" Toph called.

"Miss, it seems to be an emergency."

Toph sighed heavily, stomped to the door and swung it open. "What could possibly so important."

Alfred smiled at her. "Someone is at the door."

"Make them wait!" She yelled at him.

"It's the Painted Lady."

Toph froze. The name echoed in my mind. I stood, staring at Alfred. Suddenly, Toph booked it down the hall. I soon ran after her, and she had the door open.

The door was in my way, but I saw Toph crying more. "I'd know those steps anywhere Sugar Queen." Toph lunged her body towards the person at the door.

"Gosh, Toph, watch the stomach."

I ran to the door, and I don't think I'd ever seen anything so wonderful in my life. Katara stood there. Her face dirty, wearing baggy clothes and I could tell my how Toph hugged her there was a slight bump to her stomach. I broke down right then and there. Katara was crying, too. She didn't push Toph away, but she stepped away and moved to me, holding me in her arms as I cried. "I… I thought you had died."

"No, baby. I'm right here."

I looked down at her stomach and saw the small bump. "So it's true…"

"Yep. And I can feel that she'll be a bender, just like us."

It made me cry harder, hearing her speak, feeling her around me. I had been waiting for this moment for months. Almost 3.

"I believe Master Katara should be coming inside."

I looked up to see Alfred at the door. Katara looked up at him and smiled. "Actually, Alfred, I had a favor to ask of you."

"Yes, Master Katara?"

"There's a boat, on the dock, and the crew has helped me a whole lot the past few months…"

He nodded. "Yes, Master Katara. I'll be sure and go invite them to dinner."

"Thank you, Alfred."

"Anything for the Painted Lady."

"Wow, Katara, you really know how to push around my staff, don't you?"

She laughed. "Of course."

"Fire Crotch is very confused, we should get inside."

I was definitely confused. I had so many questions, and not enough time right now to ask all of them. "Yah, let's go inside." I said.

I held Katara's arm as we walked into Toph's home. "We have so much to catch up on." Toph said.

"I know. I'm sorry I haven't written or called in such a long time."

"I have letters waiting for you. I know you said you had… met someone, and didn't want to receive them at your house, so I'd been waiting."

"Letters?" I asked.

We made it into the living room and we sat down. Katara sighed. "Look, I understand that there are a lot of questions I need to answer, but can I please take a shower first? I've been on a boat for two weeks and I smell like rock fish."

"Ain't that the truth. You know where to go."

"Thank you, Toph." She gave her a pointed look, which was gone on blind eyes. I would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact this whole situation was blowing my mind.

"So… letters?"

"You should hear it from her."

"You brought it up because you knew I wouldn't stop asking until she told me." Toph stayed silent. "Did you see her stomach? Wait, dumb question."

She laughed. "I felt it. That is one strong baby."

"Takes after her mother."

"Yep. From the very beginning."

We sat there in silence, waiting for Katara to come out of the shower. She did, and when she came out, she was in a traditional Earth Nation gown that was similar to what Toph normally wore. "I've got to say, I prefer even Red over this green."

"At least it's not the god awful brown I've heard about."

"You're right, this is much better than the Air Nation."

I cleared my throat, grabbing Katara's attention. "What in Agni is going on!?" I yelled.

"Zuko, calm down."

Everything I had been feeling. The fear and worry, the pain. "No! I had to leave. I had just heard you were dead. And I am only just hearing that you're pregnant!"

"As soon as I realized, I sent you that letter. I faked my death so they wouldn't come looking for me."

"Did you plan the attack?"

"Looks like you guys need some time…" Toph said, exiting the room. "I'll grab tea."

Without a glance, we continued our conversation. Katara sighed. "No, I didn't plan the attack. It just ended up working in my favor."

"You put our baby in danger."

She looked at me astonished. "Excuse me? You want to talk to me about danger? Everything I've done is to protect you and this baby! To help change the world!"

"Which you haven't explained to me at all. All you've done is send me vague letters and hints, and I've had to go on my trust for you. I've just been… so worried! I hate that there seems to be so much stuff I don't know! Why do they keep calling you the Painted Lady. What's the letters about. And why is it that I heard you were a vigilante?!"

"Zuko, calm down."

"No! You can't tell me to calm down! I've been worried sick about you. I'm hearing about all this stuff that you haven't told me." I could feel the heat in my chest grow. My voice got quiet, "Why didn't you tell me."

I looked at her. I really looked at her. I looked at the longer hair she now had, the belly that weighed her down, her tense shoulders, the bags under her eyes and the sadness in the color that shown at me in her blue eyes. They were so sad, so disappointed- not in me, but herself. "Zuko…"

Despite what many might think about woman, Katara wasn't that much of a crier. She cried when something really needed to be cried about. She cried when she told me about Jet, she cried when we said our goodbyes within our home. She cried when her Grangran died. I never wanted to be the reason she cried. Yet, here she was. Standing with excess weight, completely stressed, and tired, crying about _me._

"I was so afraid. I never wanted anything like this to happen when we met, when we first started dating, when we got engaged!" She held a hand on her stomach, the other waving about, putting emphasis on her words. "You think I wanted this? To test you, to make you leave everything for me, to put this baby at risk, to have the whole world depend on me to save it?! NO! I wanted to buy a home with you, get married, have this baby, raise him or her to become some strong bender, or not a strong bender. I wanted to be normal, but I can't. No matter _what_ I do, people need me. I'm the one who has to figure out that the Water Nation are planning on a genocide of the Fire Nation people, that Azula is holding camps and forcing people to join her army. That the Avatar has done nothing. _I'm the one_ who had to figure this out, to get this information. _I'm the one_ who just has to know so much about the world. The powers given to me, were given to me from Tui and La, for some fucking reason. _I'm_ the most powerful waterbender _, I'm the one_ who liberated most of the Earth Nation, _I'm the one_ who can somehow control chi. What do you want Zuko?! Is it really so hard to understand that I just wanted to own my dojo, to teach at some high school in my small little town, and live a normal life. I never wanted this, none of it!"

I stood there, completely shocked. I ran a hand through my hair and sat on the couch. "I'm…."

"You're what, huh? Sorry? You shouldn't be. I've kept things from you, and you have every right to be furious. You could hit me right now and I'd understand."

"I'm not Jet." I hissed out. "I don't hit women."

"That's not what I-"

"That's exactly it!" She stood her ground, but I could tell she was slightly taken aback. "That's exactly why you haven't told me. You think I'm going to end up just like him. Get your weakness and exploit it, use it to hurt you, to hurt the people around me. I mean, Agni, you could've been skeptical that I was keeping contact with Azula, and I'd spill all of your secrets. You don't _trust me_. That's your issue. You keep me out of the loop, not only because you don't want to hurt me, but so you don't hurt yourself."

"Why would I bring you here if I didn't trust you?"

"Because you want to. You want to, but you can't. Katara, I love you. I love you so much I dropped everything, packed our stuff and took some weird flight to somewhere in the middle of the Earth Nation because I trust you, because I believe in you, in us. I want this, Katara. I want this so bad. You just keep pushing me away. You keep leaving me." We were both crying now.

"No, no. I want this, I want this, too, Zuko. I love you, too."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I love you so much."

"Katara, as much as I love you, I don't..."

She gave me a desperate look. "No, please, oh La, no. Don't say you'll go. I can't protect you if you're gone. Even if you… don't want to see me. I'll go. Or I'll stay, have the baby, and we can live here. I can drop it. I can tell Toph to go, to find the Avatar, save the Fire Nation. She could do it. Just don't… just don't go." She was on her knees, hands on her face, tears dripping out of the cracks of her fingers.

"I won't go, Katara."

"Thank you." She couldn't look at me as she sobbed. "Thank you."

"You wouldn't." I said.

"What?"

"You wouldn't be able to stop. You wouldn't be able to just stay here, with me, with a baby and let other people do the dirty work." She didn't say anything. "I know you love me. You've kept so much from me. I want to hear all of it. But don't lie to me anymore than you already have."

I walked out, leaving her crying on the floor. Toph stood at the door, a tray of tea and cookies in her hands. "You have to understand, she-"

"Toph, I don't want to hear it right now." I said with ragged breaths. "I'll be going to my room for the rest of the night. I won't eat dinner."

Toph didn't say anything, and let me walk past. I hear her walk into the room, setting the tray down. But I didn't hear what she said. I'm not sure I wanted to hear anything they have to say.

 **OK so big fight. There is a lot of tension between Katara and Zuko. What do you think? What do you want the baby to be? Boy or girl? Do you want her to be a waterbender or a firebende? Please comment!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hope you guys like this chapter. I just want to warn that this tiff between Zuko and Katara is going to make Katara and Zuko pretty depressed, and like a lot of self-hate will be shown so I don't want anyone to be triggered or something. I'm warning you now. But, besides that, hope you like it and please review when you're done!**

Chapter 16:

KPOV

I hate myself.

Sitting in my room, all alone with only my pillow to hold and support me. I had been dreaming of the warm solid body that would be lying beneath me when I returned and saw him again. I knew he would be angry, but…

And he's right. Everything I've done, keeping him out of the loop, risking the baby, it was all selfish. I should've thought more into it, I should've trusted him more. It wasn't only him though, I don't trust anyone. I don't trust the mailing system, I don't trust the leaders of the Nations, I don't trust my father. Can he really expect anything less?

My entire life I was ridiculed, belittled, and beaten by men. Men who constantly told me I was worthless that I wouldn't amount to anything and that I wasn't even worth a slap sometimes. I had been abused, emotionally and physically, and maybe I really haven't gotten over that trauma, no matter how much I had wanted to.

It was hard to make the tears stop flowing down my cheeks and I stared at the barren green wall on my side. The letters lay spread out in front of my on my bed. My secret life while living in the earth kingdom was screaming at me in the face. Toph had kept these, knowing one day I'd be back.

Finally, I opened one and read it through the blur of water stuck in my eyes. It only made me cry more. I kept reading and reading. I read about the young girl I had saved from bandits and she was living her own life rather than a life of prostitution. I read about a man who no longer has to pay gang fees to keep his shop open because I threw them in prison. I read the screams for help, the pleading from the people to have me put on that makeup again and show them what I was really made of, to continue to fight for justice. I could no longer hold it in. The sobs came out loud and clear and my eyes became heavy heart felt waterfalls. I hugged the pillow to my chest, wishing, only for a moment, that I hadn't done any of this. That I hadn't saved lives, that I hadn't helped anyone, that I didn't train. I wished for only a moment that I didn't study abroad and I had stayed home, becoming the woman my father wanted to be, normal and obedient. No matter how much goodness I try to put into the world, all that happens is backlash and more hatred and mean that continues to be spread.

I tried to muffle my sobs into the pillow, so maybe my haunted screams could be soaked into it. Maybe this pillow could take my memories, both good and bad, leave me with nothing. I didn't need them, nobody needed them. No matter how wonderful they may seem, they always ended badly.

I could feel the power of the moon, the pull it had on me. The power it surged within me and I immediately ran to the bathroom and my sobs came choked out through the puke. Tears, snot and puke covered my face and I was sure to look like death, but honestly it was what I deserved. I ruin everything in my life. I ruin familiar relationships, my love life, my friends lives, and even the lives of complete strangers.

After I felt like I had thrown up everything inside of my stomach except for the actual baby, I rinsed my face in the sink and used some water to sooth the cramps in my stomach and make sure the baby was comfortable.

Although I may have ruined the lives of many, I was determined to to ruin this child. No matter the horrid things in my past, I won't let my child see the darkest day. Going back into my room, tears finally stopped, I pulled out a pen and paper and began writing to my brother.

 _Dear Sokka,_

 _I know I haven't written to you since I've been gone, but I'm with Toph._

Not wanting to give anything else away, I left it unsigned put it into an envelope and rang the bell to summon Alfred. Not much longer a knock was heard on my door.

"You rang Master Katara?"

"Yes, can you send this to my brother? Through the safest means necessary."

"Yes. Oh, and I invited your friends to have dinner with us tomorrow, is that ok?"

"That's perfect, Alfred."

"Is there anything else you may need? You don't look well."

"Do you think you could bring me a warm bucket of water?"

"Of course, right away."

I closed the door as he walked away and before I could get to my bed my door swung open. "Damn, Sugar Queen, you sure do know how to order around my workers."

I rolled my eyes at her, although I knew she couldn't see. "What are you doing, Toph."

"You've been so loud all night, I… was worried about you." She walked over to the bed and sat down, feeling the papers under her. "You read them?"

"Yah." I said, sitting next to her.

"What are you going to do?"

"What can I do?"

She scoffed and turned her head towards me, giving me a pointed look although it wasn't directly at my face. "You know what, all this self hatred you have right now, that wasn't there the last time we met. I don't know what happened, but you need to shape up. 'What can I do?!' Please, that's bullshit and you know it. You have the power to change the world."

"Toph… I don't think I can-"

"Cause of fire breath? Look, I may not be an expert in romance, but you need to give him time. Let him think through everything and talk to him again in, like, 2 days."

I sniffled a little and agreed with her. "But I… I don't know what to do right now. Or well, I do, but I'm not sure if I should anymore."

Toph reached on and put her hand on my arm, "Katara, you are the most powerful bender I have met, except for maybe Aang. You have the ability to make great changes, to do things no one else can do. I know you may have your doubts because of the bump in the roads, but I want you to look again at these letters. See the hope and love you put into these people's lives. You made great change and I know that no matter what is going to happen, you can truly save the world. Well, of course, not on your own. I'll be there, and I'm sure Fire Crotch will be there, too. And our little band of vigilante's will team up and save the world."

I laughed. "You really have it all figured out, don't you Toph."

"Of course, I wouldn't be the world's best earthbender if I wasn't. So, how good is Fire breath at his element anyway. Have you told him about the switcharoo?"

"No I haven't told him. But I'm going to."

"Well now is probably best because he's standing outside listening in to the conversation." Suddenly there was a bang outside and I heard Zuko hiss on the other end. "You can come in now!" Toph yelled and when the door open she showed herself the door, leaving us alone.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Mind if I sit?" I motioned for him to sit and he moved over the letters but picked one up and I didn't stop him from reading. "What are…"

"There was a time when I was doing my studies I came here, but my fundings were low and I had to start living on the street. I actually didn't mind it, because I was able to really see the true culture. But, after seeing so much violence and how corrupt the system was, I decided to intervene. I dressed up as this old legend that this tiny little town had and would destroy property, bring people to justice. I helped these people get out of the bad parts of their lives. I was well known for almost 2 years before I had to leave. I met toph when I watched an underground earthbending match and after figuring out I was the Painted Lady, she showed me her home and we became close friends."

"Wait, the Painted Lady? Like the name of your dojo."

"Haha, yah, actually. I'm surprised no one really made that connections. I've had a few people from the Earth Kingdom who have visited the dojo ask about it, but I normally answer that she was an inspiration."

"Wow."

"Yah."

We were silent for a while. "Zuko, I'd like to share with you something."

"What is it?"

I sighed. "I don't want you to freak out."

"I can honestly say I've cooled my head and I don't want us yelling at each other anymore."

"Ok." I closed my eyes , pressed my hand to my chest and could feel the warmth spreading as I began to move my Chi. I could here him hold his breath as I'm sure my skin was glowing and then I opened my eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. "So everyone has chi. And chi, is part of the soul, part of who you are. The airbenders study Chi the most, believing that the only way to reach enlightenment, to fully control it, is to let go of everything, every feeling you had, everything you hold on to. However, they only study internally. They want everyone to individually find their center and make sure that their chi flows smoothly, because chi is also connected to their bending. What I've done is open up an airway sort of. What had been blocked because of ancient law, has been opened up, because I've learned how to master and fully control my chi. I can do it on others too, make sure it's aligned and help them through the process."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with anything. What did you open up."

"Remember not to freak out." He nodded. I reached out my hand, palm facing up. Suddenly a red and orange flame burst from my hand.

Zuko flew back, taken completely off guard. Having fallen of the bed he looked back up and watched as I let the small flame dance around my hand and my arm until I finally let it out.

"You're… you're a waterbender."

"Yes, I was born a water bender."

"And fire just came out of your hand."

"Yes, fire did indeed just come out of my hand."

"So by changing your chi, you changed your bending?"

"Well-" I was cut off by a knock on the door. I went over and saw Alfred holding the lard bucket of warm water. "Thank you." I told him before taking the bucket and setting it on the floor. I then showed Zuko how I could still bend it. "The chi that flows to my natural element hasn't been blocked or closed in anyway. I simply opened up a new path way." I set my hand on my collarbone and opened up another pathway. I then blew air into Zuko's face, blowing him back even more on the floor. "See, I opened up another pathway."

"So… you're the avatar."

"No."

"Than how the heck can you do this?!"

I set my hand on my chest again, blocking the pathways I had opened. "I wasn't born with the elements, I made myself able to use them using waterbending."

"Oh, yah, how in the hell does that make any sense."

"Well, blood is actually connected with your chi. When I change the flow patterns of blood in certain areas of the body I can change the chi along with it. However, not everyone's chi can be easily moved this way. Some people are born with very solid blocked Chi's and there's no way of changing them without killing them. It took a lot of training and time to be able to learn this. I don't use it very often, if ever, and I'm no pro, so rarely do I do it to others."

"Where did you learn this?"

"Well, I actually learned a bit of bloodbending in the Northern Water Kingdom. But… there was a woman in the Fire Nation who had been a prisoner taken from the South. She was angry and was using bloodbending on a full moon in order to force people into a mountain and torture them. I had met her, not knowing what she had been doing, and she was the one who really taught me how to take water from anything. I can take it from the air, from the plants. She also taught me the destructive powers of bloodbending. I was really angry. My father was abusing his power in politics, I was angry about life, I was frustrated about how hard it was to get someone to teach me int the North.

"It was amazing, the power. But… it also puts a bit of a dark spot on your soul. My morals… weren't very strong at the time. When I found out what she had been doing… I used bloodbending in order for law enforcements to take her. That was the first time I had bloodbended without the full moon."

"That's… wow." I sat on the bed, not willing to kneel down with my large stomach. Zuko stood and sat next to me and I reached out my hand and set it over his.

"I know I've kept things from you. Yes, there was a part of me that didn't trust you, that I was worried you wouldn't expect me, thought I wasn't good enough. But, you have to understand. I just want to protect you. I haven't told this to anyone except Toph. Oh, and Alfred, and that's because Alfred is always there. It's almost scary." That made him laugh a little and hearing his laughter made my shoulders relax.

"I understand. But no more secrets. I want us to be open, I want to know who you are, everything. Everything in your past and everything you've done, just as how I'll be open about anything you want to know."

I scooted back on the bed and fell onto my back. "I'm so tired right now. Let's talk more tomorrow."

He nodded and layed on his side next to me and a warm hand rubbed my stomach. A tear fell out of my eye, finally satisfied to feel the warmth surrounding my body I had so desperately hoped for.

 **Hope you guys liked the chapter. I got them to make up :) However there will still be tension, obviously. Please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 17: The Day After

ZPOV

I woke up to see a letter stuck to Katara's face and couldn't help the smile that came. I lifted my arm and peeled the letter off of her face. She frowned slightly before her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning." I said, setting the letter on the table next to the bed.

"Good morning."

"You hungry?"

"Always." She groaned and rubbed her large stomach.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Breakfast will be ready soon." Alfred's voice was heard from the other side of the door.

"We'll be there in a moment." I responded. I looked back at Katara. "Let's go take a bath." Katara giggled and pushed herself upward so she was in a sitting position.

"Well, let's go."

After a nice bath we made our way to the dining room, where Toph was already sitting and a man with long brown hair, tan skin, and a long mustache sat with a cup of tea in his hand. "Oh, Tui! Is that you Haru?"

The man looked up and I noticed the bright green eyes brighten at the sight of my fiance. I tried not to hold back a frown. The man who must have been Haru noticed Katara's big stomach and his eyes widened. "Katara, wow, you're pregnant!" Katara laughed as she left my arms and moved towards Haru and gave him a hug. "It's been too long."

"I know! I was almost worried, I hadn't been getting letters from you in such a long time."

"I've been busy in the Earth Nation. I've started up a earthbending school for kids. And I've been helping out with the elderly and making sure they have homes and stuff. What with what happened during the war…"

"Yes, I remember. How is your father doing? When I was here all those years ago, I know you guys were going through such a hard time." Katara kept her hand on his arm as the talked. I could feel my irritation grow and I looked at Toph to see a smirk on her face.

"He's doing a lot better, but you know how age is. We all know he doesn't have much time left, but he's happy. We've done so much better, and I'm doing a lot better, too. I've taken time to build homes, instead of destroying them."

I cleared my throat and Haru looked over as if he forgot I was there. "Oh." He said.

Katara looked back and smiled at me. "Let's all sit and I'll make introductions." I nodded and we sat. I grabbed Katara's hand in my own and I saw Haru frown a little, looking back and forth between us. "Haru, this is my fiance," Toph widened her eyes at the fact that she didn't say husband, "Zuko."

"Zuko? As in the old Fire Prince?"

"I didn't know you'd figure it out so quickly." I simply stated.

"Oh, c'mon. The scar on your face, the eyes, and your name? There aren't a lot of people who don't know." He didn't sound too angry, but mostly stating the obvious. "A lot of people in the Earth Nation have a hate towards the Fire Nation. If Katara is with you, you must be trustworthy, but… I'd watch my back around here."

"Noted."

"So, Katara," He said, going back to ignoring me. "You're getting married. How amazing. And a baby! I remember just yesterday you broke me out of that Fire Nation prison." I widened my eyes as Katara just laughed.

"It was my fault you got in there. It was the least I could do." Haru laughed back. "Besides, we were both in our rebellious days."

"For sure. How's your gran?"

Katara got silent for a moment and I squeezed her hand. "She… passed not too long ago."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear."

"Yah, I hadn't heard about this." Toph finally said.

"Well, I don't talk about it much. But I'm ok now. Both Sokka and I had to take a lot of time to get used to it, but we were fine."

"And your dad?" Toph scoffed.

"You know how he is. He didn't even come to the funeral."

After I observed some more chatter about the old days, Alfred brought out some breakfast. As we ate, Toph brought up something that I was obviously curious about. "Remember when you and Haru used to date, Katara?" Katara rolled her eyes and I looked at Haru and his face reddened as he sipped his tea.

"Yes, I remember, Toph."

"Yah, I mean, you were still pretty young but… wow. You went at it like bun-"

"Toph." Katara said firmly. Toph shut her mouth and Katara kept her facial expression smooth. "Yes, I remember everything from my life here in the Earth Nation. Including when, _someone_ , was beaten once."

"He wasn't even an earth bender!" She yelled which made both Haru and Katara laugh. It was another story I hadn't heard of before, and I couldn't help but feel a little left out.

"So how has it been while you were away?" Haru asked.

"Same old. I was teaching a dojo as well as a teacher in my local high school. It was really interesting. We are still low on water benders since the war, but we've had a lot of people from the North migrate there, so it's getting better. Oh, I don't know if you guys knew this, but I was in the city council for a while before I left to the north."

"Yah, Toph caught me up on the whole, you faking your death to save the world."

"I'm sure she did."

"Which is part of the reason why I invited him. I figured we would need some help on our joyful ride through defeating the Fire Naiton-again."

"Again?" I finally interjected.

Katara gave Toph a look and Toph shrugged. "He was bound to found out anyway."

"Yah, well we kind of just got reunited and I haven't had a lot of time to, well, tell him everything."

"What haven't you told me?"

"Well, all those years ago, when Aang defeated the Fire Lord, your father,… he had some help."

"What are you talking about?"

"I was probably barely even, what, 17? 18? Toph is around 2 years younger than me and so is… well so is Aang. Not a lot of people know this but… we helped him defeat the Fire Lord."

"You what?!"

"I didn't want to tell you because… well Aang made us promise not to tell anyone."

"Yah, this is the first I'm hearing about this." Haru said.

"You helped with the overthrowing of my country."

"Zuko, we both know that it was time for the war to end. We needed to bring him down if there was going to be peace."

"My father and mother are dead now!" I stood, angry, body heating up.

"Sparky, calm down. This was all before we had even met." Toph said.

"Do not tell me what to do."

I could see that my anger was affecting Katara. We had just made up over our last fight, and I knew she wouldn't want to get into another one. And she was right, my father needed to be stopped. And now my sister needed to be stopped too. Katara's expression twisted, seeing that I wasn't going to calm down and annoyance was displayed.

"Zuko, sit back down. Calm down. I'm not going to argue with again, it'll only upset the baby." I sat, but was still seething. "Listen to what I have to say. I was not the one to take down your father, the avatar was. I only helped him with his water bending as well as helped to keep him alive. We aren't close, and it was obvious he was using me for his own benefit. Toph and I do not take the title of defeating the Fire Nation, because we didn't. You cannot blame us for your mother and father being killed. _Your people_ decided to execute them after the Avatar had shown mercy."

I put my head in my hands, cooling myself down. I looked around the table to see Haru slightly nervous and rigid while Toph was just smirking. "Yah, I get it."

"I know how much you loved your mother, and we can talk about this more when we don't have an audience."

Suddenly, Alfred peaked his head through the doorway and said, "Speaking of audience, I've been told some Earth Nation army members are at the gate. Shall I let them in?"

"Alfred! Impeccable timing as always. Katara, I think you may have some business in the town, why don't you head out?" Without a word everyone stood and I followed, confused. We made it to the end of the hallway, into a room and Toph stomped her foot down opening an underground pathway. Katara went into the closet of the room, grabbed a duffel bag and grabbed my hand to make our way down the tunnel.

"I'll have Alfred put up the flag when it's safe for you to come back."

After we entered the tunnel, the wall closed behind us and Katara said, "Can you light a flame?" I did so and saw the barren tunnel ahead of us. "I'm technically dead, and since there's the threat of Azula, it might be best that you aren't found in a Earth Nation's royal family's home." I nodded.

"So, this is actually happening. We are going to be sneaking around, running away, and disguising ourselves from now on." I said and wrapped an arm around Katara to help her stay steady. "Where do we go now?"

"We need to be out of this tunnel in 20 minutes so Toph can fully close it up. It opens up in the middle of the forest and we can go into town and spend some time as travelers. I have some friends I'd like you to meet, too."

We made our way out of the tunnel and Katara led me to the town and I held the duffel bag for her. Her stomach was pretty big and I could tell even walking was a struggle, even if she didn't want to admit it. "We are going to head to Yin's house after buying some food. She's a really nice lady who's also a nurse. Hopefully she still lives in the same place. She's about the same age as me, maybe a little younger."

"How did you meet her?" I asked, trying to make some conversation.

"When I destroyed a factory owned by the fire nation, I wasn't able to escape in time and had gotten some bad burns. I healed myself for the most part but it took a lot out of me and I had fainted on the side of this dirt path. She and her mother were the first to come upon me and I had my painted lady outfit on. They took me into their home and tended to my wounds while I slept."

"That's very kind of them. I'll be sure to thank them for keeping you well before you met me."

"She will be very grateful to hear that from you. Last I heard she was marrying a firebender."

I laughed. "So you have something in common." I paused and was reminded of something. "So why did you have me telling Toph that I was your husband instead of fiancee?"

"Well, it's kind of complicated. People have tried to pretend to be married to me and whatnot in order to get close the beifong family. Yes, you had their sigil that she had given me, but if you had said you were in a relationship like a fiance, with no actual ties to me yet, she may have refused you at the door. I was just making sure you would be safe. Besides, some families are very strict about marriage and whatnot. I came back pregnant, I'd rather say we are married."

"Are we going to meet some other families?"

"Most likely not, but I'd rather be prepared."

"Katara?"

"Yes?"

"I love you." I said and I bent down and kissed her forehead.

"I love you as well. To the moon and back." She replied and smiled up at me. She reached up and whispered into my ear, "When we get back, we can have a little… fun."

My eyes widened at her husky tone, but smirked. "Are you sure that's ok for the baby?" I questioned.

"Yes, it won't affect them."

"Them?"

She smiled brightly. "We are having twins."

"How can you tell?"

She looked down and rubbed her tummy for a moment before responding. "I can feel them. Their power. At least one of them is going to be a bender, I can feel it."

"They'll be just as beautiful as you."

"Or just as handsome as you." she said. "Ok, so your name is Lee and mine is Tui." I nodded. We were reaching the outskirts of the village and as we walked we were given some strange looks. I stayed straight faced but Katara was sure to smile at them. Every once in awhile, I realized, she would reach up and stroke the necklace I had given to her when I proposed. I smiled thinking about how she would always be reminded of me. I looked down at my hand to see my own ring we had picked out together.

No matter what we would go through from here on out, I knew I'd always love her. Everything I'm doing, it's for her. If our roles were reversed, I know for a fact she would do the same for me.

We came upon the market finally, and suddenly the entire atmosphere had changed. The streets were crowded with people and yelling. Vendors trying to have people buy their things and customers trying to bargain. The townspeople looked a little disheveled and dirty. It was almost a relief we had to climb through a dirty tunnel, being to clean would raise red flags. Katara walked with grace, and a pace that said she knew where she was going. She still had her arm around me for support but she made slight movements and was leading me the way.

"Tui is that you?" Someone asked from behind us. Katara looked back and I saw the smile of recognition display on her face which put me at ease.

"Song, it's so nice to see you."

"I hadn't heard you were back… who's this?"

"This is my husband, Lee."

"You were always a person with fine taste. Haru can attest to that." I couldn't help but frown at the thought of the earthbender. Song looked at my face and giggled, "You must've already met him then." Katara-er-Tui, laughed with her and I couldn't help the red blush of embarrassment creep onto my cheeks. "And I see you have a baby on the way."

Katara smiled down to her stomach and squeezed my arm. "Two, actually."

"Oh, twins! They are going to be such a hassle around the house."

"I know! They are already a big hassle just kicking around and leaning on my bladder."

"When I had little Lua, she was the same. She could never stay in one place."

"Lua! How has she been? Wow, she must be… 10 years old now?"

"11, and she's doing really good. She's one of the best in her class."

"I'm so proud."

"Well, I should be on my way, I've got to take food home for the family." Song said as she lifted up her bag of groceries.

"Of course. Us, too. I'm going to go say hello to Hak."

"Oh, tell him I say hello as well! And be sure to stop by sometimes, Lua would love to see you."

We parted ways and Katara relaxed a little. "So, who's Hak?" I asked.

"Just a friend who likes to give me free food since I saved his son once."

"And how did you know Song?"

"I delivered her child. Lua had the umbilical cord wrapped around the neck, so it was a very difficult procedure."

"Wow, you've… really saved a lot of people."

"I've done what I can."

The rest of the walk was silent, but comfortable, and I couldn't help but think of my own past. I was finding out about this new world Katara had been in, a world she had never told me about. It was still hard to grasp that she had trouble sharing this with me, because all I could see was the good that she has done. She's saved lives, went against the Fire Nation. She even helped the Avatar. It was crazy to think about.

All that I did was grow up to be a royal. I trained in firebending with my sister as my father dictated over a country and ruined countless lives and homes. I joined the army because I knew that I wouldn't have to do anything, that it wouldn't be hard. When the war ended, that was it. Everything fell apart for me. My family no longer seemed perfect in my eyes and I had to witness as pictures of those burnt villages, those dead babies were shown on a screen for the crowd to become enraged. I stood there and watched my parents be executed, even if my Uncle tried to cover my eyes.

The burn on my face showed where I came from, my horrible history. My father was the kind of man that burned his own child if he spoke out of turn.

And, while I moaned and complained about my horrible life, Katara was actually doing something about it. She fought against the Fire Nation, saved these lives and helped defeat my father. This sinking feeling that I was indeed useless came over me.

Katara must have sensed a change in my mood because she squeezed my arm and I looked down to see the bright reassuring smile she had spread across her face. I looked lower to see her bulging belly.

What about the kids? Obviously Katara is going to stay here until she gives birth, right? And after she gives birth, what's going to happen? She doesn't actually expect us to take our babies on a life threatening journey against my sister, does she?

Katara gave me a concerned expression when I didn't smile back and I just shook my head, meaning that we'd talk later. She seemed wary, as if wanting to press on, but kept silent, considering out public audience.

But the question kept echoing in my head. What was she planning?

 **Hey guys sorry it took so long hope you guys like the chapter. I'm gonna be honest, I'm a bit depressed and the next chapters might go a little dark side.**


	18. Chapter 18

**You know how I like to do time skips, so here's another one. Hope you like the chapter.**

Chapter 18: Off To Battle

KPOV

We've been at Toph's for a couple of weeks, and the babies were due any day, I could feel it. Zuko and I have been talking about us, and what the future entails. Although we may have a few conflicting views on how we want to raise them, we decided for the time being they would travel with us to the Air Nation where I would meet Aang. From there, after we discuss what our plans were, then we'd decide whom to leave them with during out travels.

It hurt me, to think that as soon as they were born I'd have to leave them. Even if Zuko was right, that we shouldn't put them in danger, I still wanted them to be with me. It would take a week, maybe two, since the weather was getting worse, to get to the Avatar by boat. As soon as the babies were born, we planned on leaving. Toph agreed and so did Haru.

Sokka had gotten my message, he had sent one back, which looked like a grocery list, but was coded so in actuality he was telling me to be safe, and that he would be waiting for when the Southern Water Nation army was needed, and if he was needed. Toph sent word to Aang, as well, telling him she would come for her visit a little early into the year since the death of their common friend was sure to have affected both of them.

I hadn't talked to Aang much after we departed. I needed to go back to help my tribe in the Southern Water Nation, and he needed to be the strict monk in the Air Nation that was expected of him. Since my existence was practically a secret, we both understood contact would be risky. Toph visited him regularly though, since she was a royal and it's not strange for her to be friends with someone of such high standing. Sokka has told me that he has seen Aang a few times and they would have a conversation to catch up a little, but nothing more than that. Sokka didn't have as big of a role, and doesn't entirely know what had happened, but he knew that I was with Aang and always made him promise to keep me safe.

I've told Zuko that Aang and I had a little more than friendly relationship, worried that he would be angry by my past. Thankfully, he said he would not judge me by my past because of how much we were in love now. That's all that mattered.

I was also worried that my gigantic body would be unappealing to him, now that I had gained a lot of weight and could not work out as much. He made sure to remind me the night we came back from the town just how much he loved me and every part of me.

That day, when we went to the town, I talked with my friends and caught up, introducing them to Zuko. It was nice, and when I saw the smoke in the sky coming from Toph's chimney, I knew it was safe to go home.

We were all eating pleasantly, Zuko, Toph and I, when I suddenly felt the wetness spreading down my leg.

"Alfred!" I called, frightening and suprising Toph and Zuko with my loud commanding voice.

"Yes, M'lady?"

"Bucket of hot water, sterile equipment I have prepared, and a bunch of towels, I'm moving to the living room where there is more space." Alfred knew immediately what I meant and hurried off. Toph as well stood and ran to the living room to get the couch ready and cushioned for me.

"Katara? What's going on?"

"They're coming, my water just broke." Zuko's eyes widened, suddenly full of worry. "Don't worry, just help me to the couch." He nodded and grabbed my arm to help me stand and walk over to the couch. The contractions had started yesterday, but were very far apart, so I didn't pay too much attention, but this morning they had gotten a lot closer, so I had told Alfred about the equipment before I went for breakfast and what I needed from him.

After laying down, Toph put a blanket over me before pulling down my loose pants. Zuko held my hand. "I'm waiting for Alfred before anything." Toph said.

"Yeah, I know. He knows where everything is and what to do."

"Katara, I'm worried what if…"

I squeezed his hand in mine. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are our children."

"Have you thought of names?"Alfred asked as he walked in with towels all over his arms and shoulders, the gigantic bucket of water, and the bag of equipment in his apron pocket.

"Yes, but we won't make a final decision until they are born and we know the gender."

"Yes, of course."

"Ok, Alfred, it's all you. I'm going to grab Sugar Queen a glass of water."

"Yes, Master Toph. How are you feeling Katara?"

"The contractions are getting closer and more painfu-AAAAHHH!" I suddenly squeezed and Zuko flinched from how hard I squeezed his hand.

"Yes, well, let me just check, is that alright?"

I just nodded, trying to even my breath and prepare for the next contraction. Alfred lifted his head up again with a small smile. "Well, Lady Katara, you're babies will be coming soon, but just not yet, you have not dilated all the way yet, so I'm going to have to ask you not to push for now." He handed Zuko a hand cloth. "Here, this is to help her wipe her sweat."

Toph came in with the water and helped me drink it. She set it down and held my other hand. "Thank the lord I can't see, because I've been told it get's hideous."

"Thanks Toph."

She shrugs and laughs. "That's what I'm here for."

"Lady Katara, I'd have to say, out of all the women I've helped with childbirth, you've been handling it the best since it's your first-"

"AHHHHHHH! OMY LA I'M DYING."

"Yes, well that's what I've been told a lot. Do not worry, you are in fact not dying."

"Damn, so much pain. How much longer, Alfred?"

"You still have a ways to go. Keep talking, it'll help."

"I'll be sending word to Haru in the morning to come say hello to the new borns and then we can plan our trip." Toph said.

Zuko finally spoke, "Yes, our first family trip, it's going to be great."

"Yeah… our first trip together." I murmured and Zuko wiped some of the sweat off my face.

"Yah, our children will be so happy, and we'll all be together. It'll be rough, but we'll figure it out. And when all of this is over, we can get married."

"Oh, yeah, we haven't gotten married yet." Zuko rubbed the ring he had given me that still sat on my finger.

"Yeah," He chuckled. "We haven't. Where would you like it?"

"I want it in the summer." I murmured. "Let's get it done in the Fire Nation."

Zuko's eyebrows scrunched together. "The Fire Nation? Why would you want that?"

"That's where you were born and raised, that's you country. You have been stuck with me in the snow, and doing what I've wanted all this time, and now we can do something about you."

"The wedding is supposed to be about both of us."

"That's why I get to- OH FUCK FUCK FUCK UGH THAT HURTS."

"Don't push yet Katara."

"Damn, Sugar Queen you have quite the grip."

"Shut the fuck up Toph."

"Oh, I see, you'll be all lovey dovey with Sir Hot Pants but I get the cold shoulder. I should be calling you Ice Queen more often."

"Oh, Toph, you talk so much."

"That's all I get? Man, you can't even give mediocre comebacks, you must really be in pain."

I screamed again, and Alfred's voice of telling me not to push was starting to get on my nerves. It was two hours later that Alfred finally gave me to OK.

"Ok, on the count of three I want you to pu-"

"GET THE FUCK OOOUUUTTTTT!" I started screaming as I pushed as hard as I could while another wave of contractions came down on me. I think the others were trying to not laugh. I'd already slapped Zuko for laughing at my profanity and then almost cried after feeling bad for hitting him. He probably was completely confused.

"Again." I screamed again and it kept going for probably twenty minutes while my first baby came out. I heard the screams of a child and began to cry. "Lady Katara, Sir Zuko, I'm happy to introduce you to your first baby girl. What shall you name her?" Zuko took our baby and held her for a moment as Alfred cut the umbilical cord.

"What do you think?" Zuko asked me.

"We should name her Ursa." Zuko's eyes filled with love and pain. I rested my hand on his arm and nodded.

Zuko began to cry and held the crying baby tightly against his chest. "Hello, Ursa, it's me, your papa."

"Looks like the next one's ready as well." I nodded and began to push again. This time it took much longer. An hour later our next child came. "Wow." Alfred exclaimed. "You seem to have a beautiful baby boy, as well." I cried again as I watched Alfred cut the umbilical cord and Toph handed me the boy. "What shall his name be?"

"Ki." Zuko interjected. "I think Ki is great."

"Ki." I said. "Hello Ki, I'm your mama, how are you?" Ki began to cry and I smiled.

Alfred cleaned me up and then helped me sit up so I could hold my kids better. He taught Zuko how to bath them properly, even if they were crying, which made Zuko uncomfortable. While they did this, Toph began to talk to me.

"What do they look like?"

"Ki has a chubbier face than Ursa, but Ursa came out taller. And Ursa is the one that screams the loudest. Also, their noses are more similar to Zuko's while they have my eyes."

"They sound beautiful. Katara, I'm so happy for you."

"Thank you Toph. I'm sure they are going to be your favorite Auntie."

"Aunt Toph is gonna be amazing. I'll teach them how to beat people up."

"Just make sure they don't get kicked out of school."

"So, wedding in Fire Nation?"

I nodded. "I still think it's a good idea. Zuko is technically banished, but I think after he helps us defeat Azula, they'll recognize him."

"Did you ever think about what's going to happen after Azula falls?"

"They'd most likely vote for another president."

"Last time their leader disappointed them and cause thousands of people to die, they changed their government completely. What if they decided that the people's choice isn't the right one? That they need a king?"

"You don't mean…"

"Zuko is the next in line. No matter what he's still royal, and we both know the Fire Monks won't allow anyone outside of the bloodline to rule if they want to go back to a monarchy."

"They could easily adopt something like the Southern Water Nation has."

"You know they won't. They still see everyone else as less civilized. The fact that Northern Water Tribe has fought off the Fire Nation for so long and they still have a monarchy may be sending a message to the people of the Fire Nation."

I looked at her skeptically. "What are you not telling me?"

She sighed. "I never could keep much from you."

"Or anything for that matter."

"I have some… inside people in the Fire Nation. Some are just rebellions against Azula, and others are in the court along side her. The reason she was elected was because the party that sided with Ozai was still full in swing. The poorer class didn't get a vote in the matter. Many of the the working class have been protesting and starting demonstrations against her. Some are calling for the monarchy to come back… for their prince to come back."

"But that doesn't make any sense. Although Zuko wasn't officially banished, they wanted nothing to do with the royal family. If it weren't for those who were still secretly supporting Ozai under the radar, Azula wouldn't have won the election in the first place."

"Azula had been on Ozai's side the entirety of the war, while Zuko made sure he wasn't any part of it, according to many that were on Ozai's council. Zuko had spoken out against the masacre of so many people, and that the scar on his face is representation of him becoming a better leader, that he was willing to sacrifice to save others."

"But that's not what really happened."

"It doesn't matter, that's what been spreading like wildfire in the Fire Nation. Look, I'm not saying it's definantly going to happen, but I think you might want to talk to him about it."

"I think about it before bringing it up." Toph nodded and Alfred and Zuko brought in Ki and Ursa with new diapers so they could eat.

Their eyes weren't open, but they were making noises with their tongues and looked like they would cry soon. I took Ki, first and held him to my chest so he could be fed. He wouldn't take it at first, but latched on after around 10 minutes of trying. Ursa began to cry from hunger, but I couldn't do much about it. Zuko tried to calm her down but it was no use. "Alfred, can you teach Zuko how to wrap her up?"

"Of course." They stepped into another room, and I could faintly hear Ursa's screams die down after being wrapped tightly with a blanket and Zuko held her close to his chest. After 30 min or so I handed Ki to Zuko and then held Ursa to my chest to go through the same thing. After a while of that, I handed her to Toph. Alfred went into the kitchen to grab me some food. It was already the next morning and I was starving.

I slept for an hour before being woken by cries once more. Toph brought out a crib to lay Ki in and Zuko held Ursa. Zuko had also been sleeping, and was startled awake by Ursa's screams. I knew not a lot had come out before, so before taking Ursa, I tried to use some waterbending to bring my milk down. It seemed to have work because Ursa latched on very quickly and ate for another 20 minutes. Ki had woken from Ursa's screaming as well, and I fed him as well. Zuko held Ki afterwards and Ursa was held in my arms. They had fallen asleep not long after. "Zuko, you know how to change a diaper, right?"

He looked up at me with frightened eyes and I couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, Alfred will show you."

"How does Alfred know everything?"

"Alfred raised Toph as well as Toph's cousins. Plus, Alfred knows everything."

"I heard my name?"

"Don't worry. I was telling Zuko that when the babies needed it, you'd have to show him how to change their diaper."

"I'd be happy to. If you need me, you must simply ring the bell on the wall. I shall be in my room."

"Of course, Alfred, get some rest."

Alfred left and Zuko and I held our babies in silence for a moment before I decided it was a good time than any to talk to him about what Toph discussed with me earlier.

"Zuko, what would you think if the people decided they wanted a monarch again?"

"That's… well it's up to them. I'm not sure who they would choose though. My uncle and I are only one's left of royal blood, but they could probably choose the best noble or something."

"Well, what if they chose you?"

"That's not possible, Katara. The Fire Nation doesn't want anything to do with me. I mean, if they distrusted us before, Azula is not helping at all."

I knew he was getting a little irritated, as well as confused as to why I'd even bring up the subject in the first place. I sighed before continuing, "Look, Zuko, Toph just talked with me about… well the people of the Fire Nation are actually hoping you'd come back…"

"What do you mean?"

"Many of the lower working class have been talking about how much better you would be as a king since you had been given that scar, that it was your sacrifice to those who wanted to kill of those soldiers."

"But, that's not-!"

"I know, but that's what they've been talking about. Since you're helping us stop your sister… well your country might need you to be a prince again."

Zuko sat there in silence for what felt like forever. "What about you? Ki and Ursa?"

"That's why I wanted to talk to you about it now, before we would have to go through that."

He sighed, looked down at Ki and a small smiled appeared before a frown. "The Fire Nation court is very strict. I'm not sure how they'd react to having a waterbending wife and mixed children. I don't want them to be raised around hate."

I reached out, making sure Ursa was supported with my other, and set my hand on his arm. He looked up into my eyes and I smiled with determination. "We can change that. I'm willing to stick it with you, to find a way to make it work. I am willing to stay by your side and prove to the country how strong of a wife, mother, and Lady I can be, if it were to happen. But my question is, are you ok with this? Going back, after everything?"

"I'm… not sure. I'd have to think about it. Katara… I love you so much. I love our kids. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. If… being Fire Lord would jeopardize it, I can't…"

"I understand Zuko."

"I don't know if I could be a good leader. I was a pretty shitty prince."

"I'm sure you'd learn, and you would become a great leader. But, we shall build that bridge when we get there. I just wanted you to know, so that it would be on your mind."

Suddenly Ursa started to cry and I laughed. "Time to call Alfred."

Five days later and we were ready to board a boat. Haru had packed as much and as little as he thought he needed. Seeing that I'd planned on losing a lot of weight on this boat ride, I packed few clothes, knowing I'd need to shop as soon as we landed, even if the colors of the Air Nation were very bland. Toph had received word back the day before from Aang saying he would be happy for the visit. We boarded one of the elaborate Be Fong yachts that Toph owned. Alfred, sadly, would not be taking the journey along with us, although I know for a fact he has some kind of secret fighting power and I would choose him over any old man to fight alongside me.

Toph had sent a message to my brother to tell him that the plan was moving along, although in code, of course. Sometimes, I like to wonder what my dad would be doing, how he reacted to my death. How my friends were doing as well as the rest of the council. What would they do with the dojo. In my will I had given my money to Zuko, Uncle Iroh, and Sokka. So if needed, I could always access money what with Zuko with me. I didn't want it to be suspicious though. I'm sure the village is wondering where my fiance had gone. Not wanting anything suspicious to happen, I refused to have Toph order any newspaper headlines from the Southern Water Nation.

I had to stay below deck for the most part, since I was technically dead, but I made sure to make it count. I fed the babies and held them when needed and did squats at the same time. While they were awake I showed them my waterbending, their eyes brightened at the pretty sight before them and sometimes they'd laugh. Their laughs were music to my ear. While they napped, I either slept myself or I would do pushup, stretches, or anything else I could do. I knew that I needed to look my best when seeing Aang and the other monks to discuss a future war. A fat, helpless mother was something they looked down on. They especially didn't think that highly of women in the first place. Well, if I'm honest it seemed like no Nation thought very highly of women.

"Hey Katar-"

"Honey, be quiet while I meditate."

There was silence except for the steps of Zuko's feet hitting the wooden floor. The creak of the baby's crib made my eyebrows flinch, but a soft smile came to my mind as I thought of Zuko holding. Finally I sighed and opened my eyes, rolled my shoulders and stood. Zuko was holding Ursa and I came up next to him to rest my head on his shoulder and look down at our baby girl. "She has your eyes."

"She has your hair though. And both of them are dark skinned. I love them so much."

"Ki has a good mixture in the eyes. Looks like a golden light surrounded by a bright blue sky." Zuko nodded.

"How much longer do you think we have left?"

"I'm not sure. That heavy storm cut us back a few days." Zuko looked down at me and frowned a little. "I know you hate being stuck down here. I wish I could-"

"Oh, shush. I love being here with the kids, and I know you're helping around with the boat, so it's fine."

Suddenly a door slammed open, startling the babies and making them cry out. It was Toph that came running down. "Katara!"

"Toph? What is it!?"

"There's a village on fire. The smoke was coming up high, we think it was Fire Nation and there are a lot injured, we need you."

I thought hard for only a quick second. "I'll be up there, give me a second to change."

Toph smiled. "And the painted lady returns." She ran back up yelling out to stop the ship so we can help the poor village.

I looked at Zuko. "I know you want to help." I said before he could even speak. "But this is my thing. You need to stay here with Ki and Ursa, you are the only one I trust to leave them with." I could see that Zuko wanted to argue but he kept his mouth shut and gave me a hard nod." I ran to the closet pulling out my old outfit. It was pretty big a flowy, so I shouldn't have trouble fitting into it. I changed quickly and put the face paint on. Without a word I zoomed out of the room onto the deck.

I wanted to help, it's in my nature, but I couldn't help but smile at the sudden thrill. It's been so long since I've played this role. Maybe the people were right, I wasn't meant to be sitting at a desk, not yet.

The boat was a few yards from the shore line and without a word I jumped of, creating mist around me and riding a wave onto the shore and even more beyond as I raced towards the direction of the smoke. I met up with Toph quickly and she was using the earth to push off her feet. In no time we made it to the village. I used the nearby ocean we were in and sent a gigantic bubble of water into the sky that rained down on the village, setting out the fires that had started on homes. There were no sign of any Fire Nation troops left, but one of Toph's men yelled out to us, saying they found some survivors.

"Gather everyone under this shaded area, where that patch of grass is. The Painted Lady and I will search in the recently burned homes and if you find any large groups of survivors, bring them. If you see any Fire Nation soldiers, call out to us." Toph and them all had this little devices, called pagers, where they could click and call out to any one of them. I used the mist to cloud out the village in case there were any Fire Nation spies that had stayed behind.

A child came out of the smoke filled home and she fell onto her knees. "It's ok." I told her as I held her in my arms and ran to the spot. When I got there, there had been a large enough group that I decided to begin heeling.

Using my pouch I pulled out water, which seemed to amaze them, and gently used it to help the burns on the villagers. "Are you the Painted Lady?"

I looked to my side to see the girl I had rescued. "You have heard of me?"

"Oh, yes, we all know you very well. My brother was in that lake village you saved all those years ago… You went away after the war… Does this mean another war is about to begin?" An older man asked me.

My hat and sheet concealed my face, so they could not see the sad look on my eyes. "The spirits are always with you, you must hold that in your hearts for you to face what is to come."

An elderly man I began to heal looked up at me, and I felt as though he could somehow see me so clearly. "I can see now you were not a myth, that the spirits are truly with us. Thank you, my dear. I shall always treasure this moment in my heart for as much time as I have left in my life."

"Thank you sir, you'll be fine in no time." I felt my heart warm at the thought that there were still so many people who loved me and what I do.

After a long time of me healing, Toph and I made our way back to the boat. Zuko was on the deck waiting, and I made sure that there was too much mist a fog for anyone to recognize me as I made my way down below the deck. Zuko worriedly checked me over for any injures and once he was satisfied he let me go so I could take a shower.

I came out in a nightgown, it already being very dark and I could hear the babies crying from the shower. "Oh, I'm sorry, mama's been gone for a long time. I'll feed you right now."

I sat on our bed and held Ki to my chest and Zuko sat at the foot of the bed and frowned to himself? "What's wrong, Zuko?"

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair. Ursa was still screaming out and I could tell it put him on edge. "I'll talk to you when you're done." I nodded and he tried to hold Ursa, but it barely calmed her down.

After 20 min of feeding Ki, I finally fed Ursa and the room was much more peaceful. "What is it you want to talk about?"

"Katara… I know you love it. You love being out there and doing your thing. I can't help but worry... "

"Zuko…"

"Wait, let me just-let me just finish." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I love seeing you happy, and doing this, going straight to danger, that's what's in your nature.

"And I want to be there. Sure, I wasn't a vigilante in my teenage years, but the life you led is so exciting, like something out of a story and I can't help but feeling useless. And now we have Ursa and Ki, meaning someone will always need to stay behind, and I think that someone will almost always be me.

"I want… Well, I'm not entirely sure what it is I want. I guess, I just want for whatever it is that we do, we do it together. I feel like we've just been so far apart and I don't know how to get closer."

I nodded and stayed silent for a while to think. He was right. I was so quick to leave, to go out there and what if Azula herself had been there? What if I died and left the babies with no mother? "You're right Zuko. I let the past consume me. I understand where you are coming from. I think… we should wait for at least a year before doing anything. Before going off to battle or whatever it is we want to do. I know you were kind of thrown into this, it must be very hard for you. I… made you do this. I know you want to be with me, to be a part of something, but I understand if… you don't want to. If you don't want to risk your life over a fight that's not yours. Rule a country you may not want to rule… I just want you to tell me-"

"No, I want to do this. I need to stop Azula, she's my sister. I can't let her do what my father and grandfather did for so long."

"Maybe we could leave the babies to the monks when we leave. They'll be treated with the best of care there, and raised peacefully, the war won't touch there, what with it being the Avatar's land. I don't know how long we'll be gone but… we need to keep them safe. Everyone thinks I'm dead, and with the enemies we have, I think it would be best if the world didn't know of them until it's all over."

Zuko sighed and ran his fingers through his hair then looked down at his hands. He laughed and pinched his fingers into his hand and reached it out to me. "I'm getting old." There was a gray hair, tightly between his thumb and his finger. I laughed along with him and set Ursa down in her crib.

"What's that make me then? I'm the older one."

"I feel like time has gone by so fast."

"It's pretty insane, everything we've gone through. I feel like Jet and my dad and everything else is so distant in the past."

"It really is… how have you been holding up lately? I know.. We have talked a lot since we finally reunited, but I want to know how you are, really."

"I'm…" I took the time to breath for a second. "I'm not really sure. I haven't had the time to process everything. I just… I've been so focused on Ursa and Ki, I just… I don't know. I know it's all going to hit me at one point, and I know you'll be there for me when it does."

"I'll be here."

"I know." I sat next to him and leaned my head against his shoulder.

"We'll be together."

 **Welp, tell me what you think of the chapter, hope you liked it. What did you think of their names? See you next time.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks all for being amazing and continuing to read this story. Love y'all**

Chapter 19: Arrival

ZPOV

I have never met the Avatar.

He had been invited to many meetings and gathering in the Fire Nation when my family was still in power but he rarely ever came. The few times he came it was very secretive and I wasn't allowed in the room. I was young, too, and I understand that it was only the top generals and my father that could meet with him personally. I had always thought he was much older, even if the history books had told us he wasn't much older than I was.

It's hard to think about the fact that Katara was with him, in a romantic way. She was with the most powerful human being and yet she's engaged to me. It's hard not to get a little insecure, but I've been completely happy being in this room with her the entire trip. A few times we had stopped, we switched on who would help Toph if it was needed. Ki and Ursa were becoming the most adorable kids, in my eyes they were better than the God's themselves. They had both gotten so big within the trip, and it was obvious that Ursa was still a crybaby compared to Ki. You could hardly tell they were twins from an outsider's point of view, but Katara and I saw it, saw their uncanny resemblance. Their cheeks rounded the same way and they both had the same smile. Their forehead were almost the same and their ears both pointed like mine. Ki's nose rounded a little more like Katara, and Ursa's was a bit more pointed. They were the most amazing small creatures in the world.

Katara and I had been napping since we had finally gotten both Ki and Ursa to fall asleep at the same time. I was the first to awaken, hearing Toph stomp down the stairs. I sat up, waking up Katara in the process and Toph entered the room. "We are here. Zuko, get dressed as fast as you can."

We had planned it so that Toph would introduce me as Zuko, the former prince of the Fire Nation, and fiance to Katara. According to Toph, Aang legitimately believes that Katara is dead, as did the rest of the world. Toph and Aang were good friends, and she is going to invite him onto the boat to have a drink, since she had some things of Katara's he would most likely like to have. Katara would be waiting at the bar-yes, Toph does have a bar- on the boat. After that we would discuss what to do next in defeating my sister.

This all seemed so crazy.

Aang was waiting on the dock. "Toph! It's so nice to see you."

I followed Toph down the steps onto the dock. "Twinkletoes, nice to know you haven't changed much since the last time I saw you."

"Yes, well, it seems everything else keeps changing around me." I could hear the sadness, and it tugged at my heart. Did he still hold feeling for Katara? I was taller than Toph, and I saw him. He was tall, bald, and in a traditional monk outfit. The blue arrows seemed to glow on his skin.

"Yes, we have much to discuss. I have some things on the boat, I'd like for you to see. Maybe a drink between old friends." Aang peered at me as we finally stepped fully onto the dock.

"I see not all of us are old friends, may I ask who you are?"

Toph cut in. "I know you didn't know about him, but this was Katara's fiance before she left to protect the North." I don't think Aang quite registered what she had said for the first few moments. He stared at Toph and then looked to me, looked down at my hand to see the ring. He looked into my eyes and I mostly saw confusion.

"I know you…"

"Yes," Again, Toph spoke for me. "This is Zuko, former prince of the Fire Nation." Aang's eyes widened and his entire body tensed. "Calm it, Twinkletoes, he holds no malice towards you."

Aang looked at me warily, "How is it that you came to know Lady Katara?"

"I met her in her village. My uncle, Iroh, and I left the Fire Nation to look for a better life. She was my first friend, the first person to accept me for who I was."

"And she knew who you were? Do you know of her role in the execution of your parents."

"I do, and she knew who I was." Aang could most likely hear the raw honestly I held in my voice.

"I believe, too, that this conversation should be done in private, let's go onto the boat." He looked back at the Monks who had been far enough to not hear us, but had noticed the stance he had taken and the air became very hostile. "Calm down, Master's, these here are my friends. I shall enter their boat for a drink between friends and will come out before nightfall."

Aang followed Toph and I onto the boat and I could feel my heartbeat racing, not knowing how the Avatar would react to us lying. We went down a hall and soon stood in front of the wooden door that held the bar. Toph layed her hand on it and said, "I've got a surprise for you, Aang."

The door swung open, and Toph and I walked in first, Aang following behind. There sat Katara, in a silk blue dress, her betrothal necklace on her neck, her ring on her finger. Her hair was in a braid with hair loopies on the side. She had lost a lot of weight, and looked stunning in the dress as it hugged her curves and a slit opened on her leg. She wore no shoes and sat their with Ursa in her arms and Ki in our crib not too far away.

Katara looked up and smiled. She got off the chair and set Ursa in the crib with Ki and they giggled as they both touched each others face.

I felt like an outsider with throughout the interaction. I looked back to see the tears in Aang's eyes. Katara walked to him, touched his cheek and then finally pulled him into a hug. Aang was unmoving at first, but after realizing she was real, instantly wrapped his arms around her and he began to cry into her shoulder.

I never believed someone who could literally have the world in his hand be so vulnerable. Toph and I sat there, and I did my best not to stare, but I couldn't help the tug on my heart as I watched the Avatar embrace the mother of my children. It seemed like an eternity before Aang stopped crying. He pulled back and looked at her, analyzing her face.

"But… you were supposed to be dead."

"Yes, I know. I had jumped out of the boat before it caught fire."

"But… why?"

"That's why we came to talk to you, but let's do that later, I'd like you to meet my kids."

Aang's eyes widened, he must have completely forgotten about the child that was originally in her arms when he first walked in. Katara led him over to the crib and also motioned for me to come over. I did so, silently, and I don't think Aang really noticed my presence, his eyes were focused on Katara as she moved her hands to pick up Ki.

"This is Ki, and that's Ursa."

"Ursa, as in…" Finally he looked at me, but he didn't really see me, more like he looked right through me. "So you really are together."

"Yes, he is my soon to be husband and the father of my children. Aang, I'd like you to meet Zuko, the love of my life." Hearing those words made the squeeze in my heart lessen and a small smile to my lips.

"You really are the Prince. You're scar is a dead give-away."

"Yes, I tend to get that a lot." Katara gave me a look, but I refused to meet her eyes, knowing the tone in my voice was dumb, but I couldn't help it. Aang wasn't bothered at all.

"May I hold her?"

"Of course, she's quite a crybaby."

"Just like her mother."

"Oh, hush, I was not a crybaby."

"Oh, yes you were, Sugar Queen." Katara laughed and once again I felt out of the loop. I tried not to be bothered, but to Aang I was still an enemy, and they held so many stories together of their adventures and I was not there to experience it with them, with Katara.

He held Ursa in his arms and I motioned that I wanted to hold Ki. She handed him to me and then began to speak. "Look, Aang, I know that this is all very confusing, but I did this so that I could sneak into the Fire Nation, just like last time. Azula has waged war with the North and has gone far beyond her boundaries in the Earth Nation. She might have taken a part of the North if not for my interference. I need to ask you to fight by my side again, to stop Azula. We've already done what we can in the Earth Nation, helping the villages she's set fire to, but I was hoping you could help us."

Aang didn't say anything at first, and then handed Katara Ursa. "Katara, you know it's much more complicated than that."

"I know, that's why I came here. I've grown a lot stronger than I was before, when we were just teenagers on an impossible mission. Aang, it's different now, we can't let this go on for too long, or else we would be letting horror happen just as it did last time."

"Last time was different?"

"How?"

"Katara, they elected Azula, I can't meddle in their Nation's private affairs, I'm an outsider."

"They are killing their enemies. Azula is setting up camps to throw anyone who disagrees with her in there. It's almost no different than it was last time."

"How do you know that?"

Katara set Ursa down, filled with frustrations. "I still have my friends. The poor and working class people are being burned alive and whipped. It's the job of the Avatar to make sure things like this doesn't happen." I could tell by the tone that it was a low blow. Aang looked to see me and Toph. An audience. Katara realized he was uncomfortable. "Toph, Zuko, can you give us a minute?"

"Do you want me to take Ursa?" I asked. She nodded. I handed Ki to Toph and grabbed Ursa from the crib and walked out. We walked onto the deck and I let the kids watch as the waves crashed against the walls of the boat.

"Stop being so tense. If anyone can convince him, it's Katara." I stayed silent. I had a feeling that if Katara asked him to do anything he would follow. "Katara loves you." She didn't say anything else as we waited. I knew she was reassuring me, and it made me disappointed that I doubted Katara in anyway, but it was mostly due to my own insecurities.

Aang and Katara came out long after. Without a word, Aang walked off the boat and towards the large temple in the distance.

"So I'm guessing it went well."

"He's going to talk to the Monks before we go in there and propose the Avatar is to help us stop Azula."

"I hate how they think they can control him. He can make his own decisions."

"It's how they do things. He respects his elders."

"So what happens now?" I asked. Katara took Ki from Tophs arms.

"Now? Well, now we wait."

 **Hope you all liked the chapter. Tell me what you think!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Lets just say i really like to use this as an excuse to procrastinate on my school work.**

Chapter 20: Together

KPOV

It was hard seeing him at first. It was hard because I saw that he had been devastated by the thought of me dying, he saw me as invincible, just like everyone else had. Even Zuko sees me in that way sometimes, as if nothing is going to happen to me, like I'm so strong nothing ever affects me.

But seeing Aang's face after so many years. I realized then how long I had really been gone. He had wrinkles at the corner of his eyes and his cheeks were heavy, but strong. His head was still bald, but I could see the clean cut beard on his face, a deep dark brown.

I knew we needed to talk, but of course I avoided it. Instead I went straight into war, both literally and metaphorically. Aang and I could talk later, when Zuko didn't have the pained jealous look on his face. I understood he could be intimidated with Aang, but he also needs to know it's his necklace I wear, his ring I wear, and my ring on his finger. I loved Zuko, Ki, and Ursa more than anything. I'd let the world burn to ashes if I knew that I could at least protect them, but I couldn't promise that. I couldn't promise a perfect world for them when Azula is slowly trying to take over the world.

It took a 3 months to convince the monks that it was the right thing to do, letting the avatar fight. And the only reason they saw it as ok, was when the news came in.

I was sleeping with Zuko, Ki and Ursa napping together in the crib we brought with us when Aang harshly knocked on the door.

I jolted awake and ran to the door. "Both the North and Ba Sing Se have been taken over. The monks have called together a gathering and require your presence."

"I'll change." I closed the door and explained to Zuko what was going on. "Go back to sleep, they won't let you in there anyway. Shush, don't wake up the kids." They were so big now, their energy continually growing. It wouldn't be long before I would stop feeding them with my breasts and they would move onto other foods."

"Wake me when you come back."

"I will. I love you." I kissed him and ran out in my blue robes.

I walked into the council room, Aang sitting next to the main Monk and two others sat near them. They sat only slightly higher, not as extreme as seen in the Fire Nation before the war ended. I sat in the half circle that was in front of the main leaders.

"We have just received word from King Bumi that Ba Sing Se has been taken by Azula herself. The north had been taken only a month before. As our new guests have told us, Azula seems that she will not stop on her conquest, and King Bumi has asked for our aid, for the Avatar's aid. I gather you now in this emergency meeting to again discuss if Avatar Aang should leave with his friends to go take down Azula."

"Gyatso, what will happen to the political system of the Fire Nation if we are to take down President Azula, they did fight for her."

"Isn't it our duty to make sure war like this never happens again?" I cut in. "Their political system has already become extremely corrupt within the first few years, the majority did not vote for Azula. The Fire Nation will not be happy if another country is to intervene on their private affairs, but if someone were to come in and show leadership that's from their own country…"

"Are you talking about the banished prince? Please, the people will not accept him."

"He holds a burn that shows he went against his father and his wishes. I know for a fact that the working and poor class will almost fully support his rising. I'm not saying they need him to be their king, or emperor, but the Fire Nation needs a new image that is not destruction or war."

"And how is the former prince supposed to be that?" Gyatso had been watching the conversation, and I knew he was mostly on my side, but we needed to convince the rest.

"What do you imagine the world will think when the former prince of the terrorizing royal family of the Fire Nation is fighting alongside the Avatar?"

The was murmuring around the room before I continued. "When they realize the Avatar is siding with the rest of the world, rather than the Fire Nation, it'll be obvious to the world what side Zuko is on. Zuko is willing to fight against his own sister to be symbol of hope for his people. There will be an uproar, and many may fight against it, but when we win, Zuko can be an advocate for the good of the Fire Nation and help rebuild, just as he will help fight."

"And how to we know that Zuko is such a kind spirit. He has shown hate while his family is in rule."

"I speak for myself when I say I do not let hateful people into my family. I would not bear the children of a man who wishes to kill and destroy. Zuko is a kind heart, he has traveled with me all the way here, and has even hidden in his room because none of you accept him so that way it would be easier to discuss terms in letting the Avatar do his duty to the world." The words hissed out and I knew some of them were appalled. I was very aware again with the lack of women sitting around me. Ugh, men. "I am a Master Waterbender. I will not let my family or myself be belittled by your stereotypes you have forced upon us, when most of you have not stepped off your protected temple since you were but babes.

"I have fought in wars, I have fought with the Avatar, I've been apart of Courts, of Councils. I've studied the most ancient arts of bending, of fighting. If any of you would like to question my judgement, of my ability, I'd like to see you try. Who was it that whisked the avatar away last time in secret to fight against the Fire Nation? Who was it that made the Air Nation famous because all of the fame of defeating the Fire Lord was on their Avatar? I have helped your nation far than any outsider ever should and you still question me?"

Gyatso tried not to laugh and the red faces of the old men around the room. Aang seemed almost frightened, his eyes wide. I was always one to fight against the system, but never so abruptly. But I was tired. I was tired of being looked down on because I was a woman. It does not help that the first woman to be in power is a psychotic murderer starting a war. I've been looked down on because I'm a mother, I'm supposed to be in the home, domesticated. I'm not that woman, I'm not weak, and I'm not the woman they all want me to be. I will not submit to their sexist views when the fate of my family is at stake.

"These are strong words."

"From a strong woman." I countered. "I left the Air Nation after the war, I did what you all wanted and never contacted, never told Aang where I was and left no trace. With everything I've done for you, I will likely take the Avatar again and do exactly what I want because all of you are too busy bickering in a circle. By the time you realize that thousands of deaths are going to happen, Azula will already be knocking on your door."

It was a low blow. Aang had not known the reason why I didn't tell him where I went, why I disappeared without a trace and never contacted him except for very discreet letters sent through Toph. His eyes widened in realization and the room went silent. I could feel the silent rage coming from the seat next to Gyatso. The avatar was angry and I'm sure these monks will feel his wrath.

"I'm leaving tomorrow with Katara and Lady Toph's boat, with Prince Zuko. We will head to Ba Sing Se, first and take it back, leaving Toph to defend it if needed. Next we will move to the North and take it back. I shall send Katara to the South, to make sure the Southern Water Nation is willing to fight, and I will talk to King Bumi, and Katara will also discuss with the Northern Chief. Zuko shall go into the Fire Nation and his name shall be known throughout as their savior from the Tyranny of Azula. I will no longer sit here and watch the world end." With that Aang stood and walked out. I soon followed, not bothering to look at the irritating monks.

I reached him and stopped him. "Are you ok?"

"Why didn't you tell me."

"It was for the best."

He sighed, I touched his cheek, looking up at him. "If I had only known…"

"Oh? And what would you have done?" He touched my hand that was still on his face.

"I would have made them let you stay." It was my turn to sigh and I pulled my hand away. I knew what he wanted, and I also knew I couldn't give it to him.

"Aang, we aren't teenagers anymore."

"Katara, I'm in love with you."

"I'm in love with Zuko. I have two beautiful children with him, and I'm happy. What we had is in the past, it was a very long time ago." I made sure to look him in his blazing brown eyes. I held the conviction in my voice, because I truly meant what I said.

"That could've been us. We could have had a family together. I wanted that to be us."

"It wasn't meant to be Aang, you need to find someone else who loves you like you wish to be loved."

"But…"

"I need to wake up Zuko to get him ready and talk about who will be taking care of Ki and Ursa. I'll see you in a few hours."

"I'll wake up Toph and Haru." I nodded and walked away.

It was true, I no longer held those feelings for Aang. Maybe I never really held those kind of feelings. I mostly saw him as a younger brother, and I had taken care of him on our journey together. Sure, we had a fling, and I think it was mostly due to the fact that we had been surrounded by so much death and destruction we had simply clung onto each other for some glimpse of light and love at the end of the dark dank tunnel we had called our lives.

I moved on. I may have felt a ping in my heart after the monks demanded me away but it gave me time to think. If I was truly in absolute love with Aang, I believe I wouldn't have left at all, I would have fought to stay by his side. But I didn't. That choice led me to Zuko and I honestly couldn't be happier. If you take out the part that his psycho sister is trying to take over the world. However, it seems Aang still clung to that. He still surrounds himself with that dark tunnel and can only see me as the bright exit. I couldn't give it to him. I hoped to La that he finds someone who can give him that love, because he truly deserved it.

"Zuko, wake up. We have to pack."

"What happened?" He asked in a daze, the fog of sleep not quite lifted off his mind.

"We are leaving at dawn. We need to pack and figure out who's going to take care of Ki and Ursa." Zuko nodded and stood to begin packing. As we moved around, the kids woke up and I had to feed them. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, I got this. You feed them."

As I sat with Ki in my arms, his mouth attached to my breast in order to gain some nutrients. His eyes were scrunched up, it was obvious he had not wished to wake up from whatever wonderful dream he had, but he must have been very hungry. I began to tell Zuko everything that happened in the emergency meeting. "So that means the monks won't be so happy if we ask them to take care of Ki and Ursa."

"I don't think they'd refuse, but I think it would be very difficult to get them back."

"Than what should we do?" Zuko asked.

"We aren't going straight into battle just yet. Since we plan to just travel and get allies, I think it would be fine if we brought them along."

"Katara, that's only a temporary solution, and even then, we could run into trouble and it would put them in trouble."

"I know, Zuko. I just… I don't know what to do right now and I don't want to leave my babies behind."

Zuko stopped packing to sit next to me, an arm around my shoulder and he pressed his head against mine. "I know. It's going to be hard being apart from them, but we need to make sure they are safe."

"I know." We sat there in silence for a moment before something came to mind. "What about the Kiyoshi Islands?"

"Why the Kiyoshi's?"

"The South has a base there, that's where my brother had been. It's the one of the only places in the Earth Nation that was untouched by the Fire Nation during the Old War. Plus, they raise all of the children to be strong warriors. I know some of the chiefs on the Island and I think they would welcome Ki and Ursa with open arms."

Zuko thought about it. "We will keep thinking about it, but that sounds like a good idea. We will pass by Kiyoshi when we are on our way towards the Earth Nation from the South."

I gave Ki to Zuko so he could burp him and picked up Ursa who had begun to cry with lack of attention and began to feed her. After both were burped we went back to packing.

I held both babies as Zuko carried our bags to the boat. Aang was standing on the deck, talking to Haru. We walked up and Aang refused to meet my eyes as I said good morning. Haru bent his head politely at both Zuko and eye and smiled lovingly at Ki and Ursa. I walked into the heart of the boat to where Zuko and I had stayed last time. I felt bad for making Zuko carry so much stuff, but it was amusing seeing him struggle from time to time.

After leaving Ki and Ursa with Zuko I went back on deck to talk with Aang. Toph was now with him, Haru nowhere in sight, and she felt my steps on the wooden board. "So I was thinking we should head to the South, first. It's closest. Plus, I think I should finally pay my father a visit.

 **Hope you like it! I was thinking about when I finish this one, I could do a sequel about Ki's and Ursa growing up during the war.**


	21. Chapter 21

**So, I only ended up editing the first couple of chapters, and I'm ok with that, because that was where my biggest issues were, because I felt like there wasn't enough development of the characters. I might change more, and if I do, I'll be sure to tell you. I'm going to take downt he AN I posted. I have dying to just write a new chapter, so I hope you guys like this.**

Chapter 21: Southern Nation

ZPOV

"Zuko, hey, wake up. We are going to be arriving in a couple of hours. We need to get dressed." My eye sight was fuzzy, but I felt the soft warm hand of the mother of my children touching my face. I hadn't shaved in quite some time so it had grown a little bushy. My hair was longer, too, which meant I could keep it up in a traditional Fire Naiton bun. I awoke to see that Ursa and Ki were still fast asleep. Katara was still in her sleepwhere. It was still dark out, I couldn't feel the sun in the sky. I looked at my beautiful wife and she smiled down at me. I grabbed her hand and kissed it, making her smile bigger. "C'mon you sleeping bug, get up and get dressed. Aang has already sent word that he wished to speak with Hakota, and I had sent word to my brother to be prepared."

"I know, but it's still crazy that you are going to be having some kind of political debate with you family. And the entire world thinks you're dead."

"Yeah, it'll be a bit of a shock, but it needed to happen in order for your sister to not want to kill me." She said it jokingly, but a small cord was struck in the pit of my heart. I did my best not to show it, but she saw it anyway, and she kissed my forehead. "Everything is going to be fine."

I couldn't tell if she was beign wholefully honest, but I relaxed under her lips anyway. Suddenly, a thought occured to me. "You're going to have to talk to Jet."

She sighed. "Yes, I know."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm a big girl, I can have a civil talk with him. Besides, I had to see him on my brief trips to the capital."

"True, but this is going to be different. Does Aang know about…?"

"No, I'm not going to tell him. It will only make talking to them that much harder."

"He's quite protective of you."

She nodded. I sat up and gave her a kiss before getting out of bed. "I know. I'm sorry about that."

"No, it took time to get used to it. I know he still has some feelings, but you can tell that he simply cares for your safety more than anything. And I'm someone who he doesn't know, and I'm related to the enemy, I understand why he's been more hesitant around me."

"Yeah, but still. We have kids together, he needs to deal with it." I didn't say anything after that. She walked into the bathroom first to wash up and I pulled out our clothes we knew we were going to wear. For me, a traditional Fire Nation Robe. I didn't have my crown, but my presence made that much of a difference. She would have her Painted Lady outfit on, but without the makeup. I had asked her why she wouldn't want to wear something more associated with her nation. Her answer was simple, that she wasn't there to represent her nation.

I didn't know much about her Painted Lady days. She told me small stories here and there on our journey, but with all the time taken to prepare for war, we have had little time to sit down and really discuss our lives. Ki and Ursa were growing, and they were looking more beautiful by the day. I was curious a to what kind of benders they would be. What with Katara's ability to read chi, I'm sure she already had an idea, and she wasn't telling me. I looked down at my children lovingly as I waited for Katara to get out of the bathroom.

When she did, she was only in a towel, and her hair was down in waves, with her signature loops that went to the back of her head. The necklace I had given her was around her neck, and the ring on her finger. She had on light makeup that made her look more professional.

I couldn't help but stare. My future wife was a wonderful and beautiful woman. "Stop looking at me like that." She giggled out. It made me smile.

"Never." I gave her a deep kiss before heading into the bathroom myself.

When I was out, Katara had on her clothes and was feeding Ki. I smiled at how beautiful she looked again before picking up Ursa into my arms.

We had discussed on what we would do with Ki and Ursa during the meeting. We decided that the only person we were both willing to trust was Haru, and he was perfectly okay with not attending the meeting. At first, I wanted them to be with us. It scared me to think we wouldn't be able to keep our eyes on them. She refused, explaining that they could either disrupt the meeting, or people wouldn't respect her. I couldn't understand why at first, but once she explained, it became clear. The Southern Water Nation was more strict in it's traditions. If a woman had children, they were expected to be home and taking care of them. If all the council knew off the bat that she had children, it would make them struggle with their moral code to allow her to take on the challenge that is this war.

A knock on the door meant we had landed. I opened it to see a semi-sleepy Haru.

"I've prepared bottles to feed them with. They won't like it, and they'll cry, but don't back down, okay?" Katara said to Haru. He nodded and took Ki out of her arms. We both kissed our children before making our way up the stairs.

I went up first, and was suprised to see that the officer greeting us was actually Sokka. Katara hadn't seen him yet, and he hadn't seen her, but I couldn't wait to see their reactions. Aang was talking with him. From what I knew, they had met, but didn't have the closeness with each other as Aang did with Katara. Aang looked back first, and smiled as he spotted Katara.

Sokka followed his gaze and his eyes widened, and suddenly tears filled his eyes. "Katara!" He ran to his sister, and Katara did the same. Tears in their eyes, they hugged tightly. Katara was the one to push back first. "Sokka, you're so grown up now."

"Of course, since you weren't there, I had to grow up and start doing my own laundry." That made all of us laugh. He pulled her back and took in a deep breath, snuggling into her neck. "I had gotten you letter but…"

"I know."

"Well," he said, pulling back and wiping away the tears that had fallen, "you sure are going to give Dad a surprise. I see the Painted Lady is back in business."

"Honestly, was she ever gone." He laughed and held out his harm for her to take. Aang and I hung back behind them as well all stepped off the boat.

We had docked in the main city, I had never had the time to visit when I moved to the Southern Water Nation, but I had heard rumors and seen some pictures. It was much more advanced then the small village Katarra was from. There was more metal made buildings, rather than snow, and you could tell that noise would never stop on the street. The ports were busy with merchants and all walks of life trying to buy off of fishermen. But, when Katarra made her way down the steps, I felt as if the world went silent. Conversations died in their mouths as they saw the clear sheet over her large hat wave through the wind. Her hair flowing with it as well. Her makeup had not smeared with her reuniting with her brother, thankfully. It wasn't just the eccentric costume, but the way she walked, as if she was a higher being. As if Agni was walking with her, taking the same footsteps, Katarra was not one of us common humans in that moment. Something had changed, she had changed. Her back was straight, but not uncomfortable, her feet made almost no noise with each step. Sokka, a high ranking officer, did his best to look proper and professional, but I think he even felt the change in the air. Everyone in the world was inferrior to Katarra. She could move the earth if necessary.

There were councilmen waiting at the doc. I did my best not to laugh at their weak kneed look. They didn't know Katarra was alive. They had all thought she died while in the Northern Water Nation. I could tell Katarra was completely still in her expression, she had been preparing herself to see the people she had known for so long, and she knew that they would want to bomboard her with questions.

"Katarra, we had no idea that you would be here, the council is not prepared for this." I didn't know who he was, but he had white long hair and a long white moustache. His face seemed to display cockiness, and it annoyed me to no end. "I don't know why you've come, but the council may not be able to-"

"She's here on my behalf, for the meeting I have already scheduled with the council in advance." In a way, I wanted to laugh. Aang didn't exactly look surprised at the attention Katarra got, but I'm sure he wasn't entirely used to not being the center of attention. He stepped forward toward the councilman. "I have with me my people. If you do not allow all of us into your council room, then we may have to go back home with some words to the monks."

Wow, that was quite a threat. Aang was the Avatar. Were they really going to ignore that just because of Katarra and I's presence?

"Of course, Avatar Aang. We have a car waiting for you. The central council will be waiting for you."

Aang nodded. We were lead to a large van and entered with Sokka and Aang sitting in the first row of the backseat, and Katarra and I sitting in the far back. The councilman and another man, a little younger, sat in the driver and passenger seat. The car remained silent the entire ride. It was only about 10 minutes long. I reached over and squeezed Katarras hand. She didn't look at me, but she squeezed back. She kept her eyes on the streets. I could tell she was tense, so I rubbed my thumb over the top of her hand. Her shoulders relazed a bit, but she still was wary.

The council held their meeting in a large snow made building. It was only two stories, but was very wide. We were led inside and only had to go through two doors before walking into a large room with an empty center and a large circle table with many chairs. Men and women were already seated, and there were three seats waiting for us.

Toph had decided she didn't want to be apart of the meeting. Katarra hadn't pushed it. When I asked her later on, she only said that Toph wasn't good in official situations. If she was needed, Katarra would be sure to call her.

No one was surprised anymore when Katarra walked into the room. I skimmed the room for faces, Jet was sitting there with a smirk on his face. To this moment, I still wanted to burn that stupid look on his face. We knew he was here, though. Katarra said she was ready, and I believed her. No doubt someone called from the docks. Some couldn't stop the widening of their eyes, but many left their faces blank. There was a man with dark brown hair sitting at the head of the round table. No doubt her father. Once we were seated, he began to talk.

"Welcome, guests. I hear you come with troublesome news. First, I'd like to address another situation. I see, Avatar Aang, that you have brought others with you. I'm sure you'll have plenty of explanatioin once given the chance, no?" Aang didn't say anythgin so he continued. "Well, I'd like the council to know we are listening to his requests with open ears and minds."

Ha, bullshit. I could tell by their faces that they were barely paying attention except having their eyes on the girl who was supposed to be dead.

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda." Aang stood and walked around to the opening of the table to step into the center. "I've called for this meeting because I'm here to inform you, that after much discussion with the monks, we have agreed that I will be taking action on President Azula."

Whispers went around the room. "That is to say, I'm here to ask for the Southern Water Nations assistance. Fighting will be difficult, but we can't allow the tyranny of Azula's father to repeat itself. Now, you may be wondering why this has anything to do with you. As you should know, Azula has already made major attacks on the North and on the Earth Kingdom. And we know, she will soon attack you as well. As the Avatar, I am going to take action before it gets worse then the previous war. However, this time I will make it much more public that I have a hand in this war. I have come here first, because someone who will be at my side throughout this fight was born here. Katarra is a powerful bender that will be needed to fight in this war. In fact, I propose that she help train some of your troops, especially your waterbenders.

I know you don't like to fight, but you as a nation shall always remember the first war, and the devestation on your land. I will need you, the world will need to, to again defeat the Fire Nation."

He stopped and looked around. The room was quite, I looked to Hakoda, his face was stone cold. Finally, someone said something.

"And what about the Fire Nation prince that you have tagging along?"

More whispers. "Zuko has proven that he is worthy of his status along side me. He is the husband to Katarra, and I have engaged with him personally, to know that he is not on the side of his sister."

"How can we trust that? For all we know, Katarra has been manipulated by him, and they're both traitors?"

I saw Katarra twitch, but it wasn't time for her yet. "Do you doubt my word?" Aang asked.

Before the lad could rebuttle, Hakoda cut in. "Avatar Aang, no one here is doubting your word. But we simply… are questioning your ability to judge for this situation. After all, your partners are a frail woman who shied away from her responsibilities as a warrior, obviously, when she didn't report back to the Northern Water Nation and allowed the world to think she was dead, and a boy who has little to know about war, and his sister is in fact inciting another on that his father started."

Aang did his best to keep his cool, and I could feel the tension rise in the room. One of the things Katarra and I had discussed while on the way here, was my behavior. She warned me of the horrible things they could say about me or my family, but I wasn't allowed to speak during the meeting. If I showed any kind of hatred or reacted to a comment, it would only give them a reason to mistrust him. "If she's such a powerful water bender, why did she run away? Honestly, we are fine here. We don't plan on involving ourselves in some larger greater scheme you have planned, Avatar Aang. We are perfectly fine with our own army, ready at hand, to protect our home."

Now, it was Katarra's turn to stand. Without a word, she walked her way around, just as Aang did. Aang exited the center, but staying at where you enter. "Hello, everyone. As you may know, my name is Katarra, daughter of the Chief of the council, brother to the great warrior, Sokka, and what some of you may not know, is that in the Earth Kingdom, I'm generally regarded as the Painted Lady."

In the Fire Nation, I hadn't heard much about the Painted Lady, in fact I pretty much knew nothing at all, but according to Toph, it was because the Fire Nation liked to believe that she was just a small flame in a rainy forest. Insignificant and wouldn't make much of a difference. Sure, she seemed to fight off a few troops here and there, but the Earth Kingdom was large, and the Fire Nation tried not to focus on all of it's failures. However, in other nations, the stories of the Painted Lady were practically mythical. She was a beacon of hope for the entire world during the war. To think that my fiance took such a large part in fueling the rebellion… well I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"You may not believe me now, but I can assure you I am not lying. In fact, if any of you would like to challenge me in a battle, I'd be happy to oblige. If you doubt my skill, then fight me here, right in this room, or even outside those doors if you feel more comfortable. I want all of you to know that I had my reasons for not returning to the Northern Water Nation, just as you have your reasons for wanting to be cowards and hide from your responsibilities for the world-"

"And what has the world done for us? Huh? Last time, we were wrecked, and it took years before anyone did anything about it, before we could get enough people in the army to slow down the attacks."

"What good is your army if you don't plan to use them for the greater good?!" She looked around at all the beady eyes that stared. Their attention was focused now. Aang was a hopeful, inspiring shpeal to strengthen the hearts of those who were probably already on our side. Katarra's purpose was much different. "What good are any of you, sitting here doing aboslutely nothing to fix this before it gets worse? Children are being ripped away from their parents, people are being taken from their families and tortured. You want to question whether or not Zuko is on our side? What side are you even on? Because if you aren't with us, your against us."

She turned to look her father straight in the eyes. I hadn't realized it at first, but Sokka had somehow gained access to the meeting. He was looking with a heavy gaze from the corner of the room, watching the entire scene laying out before him. "I will go to everyone of your bases, every training site and soldiers home. I will ask them the same questions. Are you willing to let thousands of children and families die because a group of people told you they were not important enough? And don't doubt I don't know where they are. I know them, they're my people. They come to my dojo, they get trained by me. I go to their parents for holiday dinners, I send them flowers when a love one has passed, I hug them when they come back crying. What have you done to help all the past soldiers wrecked, with no place to go? You think they'll be so loyal to you when you don't even regard them as human?"

Katarra was cutting deep. The tension was thick, and although I saw a rough, threatening expression across her painted face, it was completely controlled, purposeful. Hakoda's was not, and I think a part of him knew that, which made it even worse. He stood, keeping eye contact with Katarra. He took of his large blue coat and left it on the chair. "You want to question me, daughter? We shall see if you are really as powerful as you think. You are an arrogant woman who needs to learn her place."

Before people could even move, she looked him dead in the eye and said, "You think Mom would be proud of the choices you've made, Dad? Do you really think she'd be proud of what a disgusting man you've become?"

 _OH SHIT._

We were thinking that someone might challenge Katarra, but we didn't think that Hakoda would be the one. And if he did, we thought there would be others, too. Aang and I only briefly gave worried glances before all hell broke loose. I pushed my way through the busy crowd of older people. There was a hole in the wall. What the fuck, how was there already a hole in the wall?

A hand pulled on my shoulder and I almost reached around to punch until I realized it was Sokka. "Over here." He pulled me towards the wall, a hidden door. WE exited the room quickly, and I hoped that Aang could handle himself, only to find he had already made it out of the room.

He pointed downt he hall. "They are out in the courtyard."

We ran down the hall, and I was ready to see some crazy scene, Katarra bloody, ice thrown everywhere, Hakoda breathing heavily. The large fiasco I was prepared to witness… was not what I saw at all.

Snow was actually falling from the sky, it seemed so delicate and soft. Katarra no longer had her hat, most likely fell sometime between the meeting room and getting outside. She stood, her hair waving softly with the breeze, flecked with white snowflakes. Her breath was heavy, but slow, I could see it in the cold air.

And Hakoda had his hands deep in the snow, his back arched awkwardly and on his knees. It looked like he was bowing to her.

Everyone had made it out of the building. Katarra's lips moved, but I couldn't hear what she said. Her eyes… they were colder, colder than the snow that surrounded us. I looked to Sokka, and he looked afraid. I never thought he could ever fear his sister, but in that moment, that godly feeling that came from her earlier that day, it was eminating in powerful waves. She didn't seem human at all. I saw Aang stare with wide eyes, he blinked and squinted before shaking his head and then looking to Katarra once more with a confused glance.

"You fucking little bitch!" Hakoda coughed out in response to whatever Katarra said.

Without responding to him, she showed the crowd her blazing eyes. "Do you question me now? Do you think I am weak? A coward? Do you not wish for your soldiers to be able to bring the Fire Nation to their knees as I have to the Chief? We will leave tonight, and sail to the east, to the Kiyoshi Islands. We will return in a months time and I expect to have a fair meeting once again, and listen to your response to our request."

And with that, whatever hold she had on Hakoda was gone. He sagged against the snow for a brief moment before coughing and then lifting himself up weakly. Jet actually ran out ot him, giving him a shoulder to lean against as he hobbled away. I immediately went to Katarra and wrapped my arm around her. We walked in the direction of the dock, not daring to ask anyone for a ride. Aang and Sokka were close behind.

Sokka came up to my side and pulled me to the right. "I've got a car."

We followed.

 **I know it's been forever since I updated, but I hope you like it. I have updated a couple of chapters, and I think that's it in terms of editing for right now. If anyone wants to go through my chapters and edit for me a little, by all means, hit me up.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hey y'all. Hope you guys are having great holidays, whichever you celebrate. Personally, my family does Christmas, and I got realy happy because I got a laptop holder! Yay.**

Chapter 22: Princess Yue

3rdPOV

Princess Yue sat in her room, looking through the window up at the moon. There was a breeze coming through the white pale curtains.

She had woken up in a cold sweat, her husband lying on the soft large bed next to her. It was the day after their wedding, so of course it was expected that they spend the night together. As she sat there in silence, she couldn't help the tear that fell from her face. She couldn't help but imagine the bright smile of the solder that came to train at the north. She couldn't help but remember his face on a woman's body.

Katarra was such a strong woman, and she was also very closely connected to the moon, just like Yue. They bonded in a way every time the Southener came to visit. Yue remembered when they were younger and they had a sleepover. Katarra showed her so many tricks with the snow and water. Yue couldn't help but feel jealous. Sure, the moon spirits had given her life as a baby, but she felt that no one was closer to the moon then water benders. They gained their power through the spirit, and thus the spirits were one with them. Katarra somehow understood that more than anyone. She was one to be knowledgeable about science and logic, but she never doubted the spirits and the power they held.

She couldn't believe she fell in love with her brother. To think that after so many years he would come to her nation as well and develop such a close bond.

But, these memories were not what awoke her in her slumber. The loneliness she felt, the unhappiness, she knew that they would grow weak within her, and she would become a strong empress for her people, so these old memories and loves were nothing but ghosts that hung around her mind. No, she woke up because of something else.

Her body had been covered in sweat, and the visions in her sleep made her shake. Her terrors is what triggered memories of Katarra and how close she was witht he moon. Yue knew that the spirit was with her that night, and felt her unhappiness. The breeze from outside made her naked chest cold, but it never really bothered her. She grew up in this snow. The moon had spoken to her, showing her what the future held for her. And although it was not what she expected, she was not scared.

She knew that Katarra would make everything better. She could feel it. They may not be related, but she could feel her spirit through the moon, as was every Water Nation person, every water bender, every being that appreciated Tui and La. She felt all of them in her lungs, every time she took a breath of the cold air.

Yue knew that Katarra wasn't dead. She never said that, but she knew. The moon would have felt such a life being taken away. It was hard for her during the war when she was younger. She always felt everything a little too much. She could feel each water bender being taken away, each water nation warrior's life being riped from their body. It was painful at first, but these people also comforted her. Their spirits were at peace because these people had fault hard for what they believed in, and the moon and the ocean took those spirits in with warm hearts and open arms. They were no longer suffering. She had never told anyone about this, except for Katarra. Her father simply thought the loud noises of them fighting was what kept her up at night, but that wasn't the case.

Yue rubbed the betrothal necklace that was delicately wrapped around her frail neck and whispered into the night sky. She whispered prayers for all those she loved would be safe, that the world would not burn. She knew it wouldn't, she believed in it so hard that she knew the moon and the ocean would not let the sky become completely grey.

After a moment of simply being with the moon, Yue grabbed her blue robe to walk across the room to her desk. She pulled out a pen and paper and began to write. The man she called her husband snored loudly under the heavy sheats, rustling about every once and a while, but was never bothered by the absent presence of her recently made wife. Yue appreciated it, since she would rather not be questioned, and that means when she needed nights to herself, she could most definetly go without being seen.

Once the letter was finished, she opened her door to see the soldiers waiting out front. She cleared her throat and they turned back.

"Princess! What are you doing up this late?" Yue could tell by their deeply flushed faces that they had heard the obscene noises her new husband had made during their so-called love making. It had ended rather quickly, so they probably thought both had fallen asleep. She handed them the letter.

"Under no circumstances may my… husband, or my father know about this. I need you to send this to the Kiyoshi islands as soon as possible. And discreetly." These were her personal guards that have been with her since she was little. They respected her and understood her more than anyone else she knew. They'd do as she said, because she never did anything this secretive without a perfectly good reason. And she had one now.

As she pulled the sheets over her for the night, the only thing she was able to do was stare at the moon because sleep was simply unable to come.

 **What did you think?**


End file.
